By the time serial womaniser and suave super-spy James Bond takes to the silver screen again, he will be sporting an entirely new look. The ending of the franchise’s most recent incarnation saw a rather explosive end for the character under the tenure of Daniel Craig and has left many fans wondering where the series will go next.

Firstly, let us talk about the “he” aspect of that opening line. The next Bond will be a man, that is set in stone. Barbara Broccoli, who inherited control of the franchise with her half-brother, Michael G. Wilson, in 1995, said at the beginning of last year that while she is in control, Bond will be many things, but never a woman.

“I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”

Babara Broccoli speaking to Brent Lang of Variety in January 2020.

So, that puts to bed any dream castings of the most recent person to hold the 007 mantle (other than Daniel Craig) Lashana Lynch. Also, out of the running from the bookies favourite list are the likes of: Suranne Jones, Ana de Armas, T’Nia Miller and Emilia Clarke.

With that being said, we must turn our attention to the long list of eligible acting bachelors that have been linked with the role, and the reasons as to why it is unlikely that your favourite choice will be Bond.

Broccoli and Wilson will also be quick to eliminate the risk of repeating the singular mistake on the lineage of Bond, George Lazenby. While Lazenby was a fine Bond, and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service a fun if a little too cheesy film, Lazenby, being Australian, somehow never sat right, with the former model having to receive elocution lessons to walk and talk like the Eton educated Bond.

Therefore, it is important that this bastion of all things British, is at least from the United Kingdom. No time for goodbyes then for: Mahershala Ali, Adam Driver, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Michael B. Jordan.

An important factor in the hiring of the new face of Bond is age. Daniel Craig was 36 at the time of his hire, a perfect age to carry a franchise for the next 15 years. While the next Bond may not be in the position that long, it is an important factor and would likely eliminate any actor over the age of 40. That means it is a Dr No for a lot of the fan favourites: Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Michael Fassbender and Charlie Hunman.

While Bond himself is a man of many faces, the character does have many defining characteristics. He is traditionally handsome – a term difficult to describe but you know it when you see it. Connery through to Brosnan all had that signature Bond aesthetic, tall, dark hair, chiselled jaw and slightly weathered but extremely clean cut. Daniel Craig went against some of that grain, and maybe his replacement will be more akin to his look than the look of Bonds past, but for the sake of narrowing down, we will exclude anyone who does not fit that ‘Bond aesthetic’. Goodbye another day to: Jamie Bell, Riz Ahmed, Callum Turner and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

Lastly, the subtlest of the defining factors of Bond is experience, any actor that will be up for the role will likely need to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and have a number of acting credits in action roles under his belt. For at least the last two, Brosnan and Craig, you can point to a defining role that set them up for Bond. With Brosnan’s performance in Remington Steele drawing plaudits likening him to a ‘young bond’, and Craig’s performance in Matthew Vaughn’s dark and gritty crime thriller Layer Cake, showed his ability to be as rough and ready as her majesty’s secret servant needs to be. A lack of experience is where many of our younger actors fall foul, time to wave a Goldenbye to: Rege-Jean Page, Luke Pasqualino, Tom Brittney, Theo James and Max Irons.

So, who is left?

After starting with 100 of the bookies favourites, we find ourselves with five names remaining: Tom Hopper; James Norton; Dan Stevens; Sam Clafin and Ed Skrein.

Tom Hopper and James Norton are the overwhelming favourites with the betting odds compared with the others, with some bookies offering less than 4/1 odds on either man taking on the role for the next, as of yet untitled, Bond film. While bookmakers are often speculative basing decisions of the slightest whisper in the wind, the odds are certainly stacked against Stevens, Skrein and Clafin – with the latter two being given 66/1 and 100/1 odds respectively. Based off this, Stevens, Skrein and Clafin will find themselves shooting out of the proverbial ejector seat and receiving a (Gold)finger-wag.

• Dan Stevens ‘Hangmen’ press night – Photo: MediaPunch/Shutterstock
• Ed Skrein ‘Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon’ premiere – Photo: Matt Baron/Shutterstock
• Sam Clafin ‘The Riot Club’ premiere – Photo: Christine Chew/UPI/Shutterstock

Unlike his four fellow finalists, Norton possesses the least experience in action roles, playing most often a bumbling toff in television shows like ITV’s Granchester, where he played the ever charming Reverand Sidney Chambers. Norton has turned his hand to some darker roles, such as Alex Godman in the BBC’s McMafia, but Godman in that series acted more as man thrust into an unknown world rather than one who thrived in the unknown, as Bond often does.

James Norton ‘Nowhere Special’ screening – Photo: James Veysey/Shutterstock

The other favourite, Tom Hopper, has a far greater lineage of action roles on his resume. A literal giant of a man, Hopper stands at 6ft 5ins and would tower over each of his predecessors by at least three inches over the current tallest Bond, Sean Connery. His recent role of Luther Hargreeves in Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy shows that not only does Hopper possess the ability to be a strong leading man, but also has the comedic acting chops to deliver some of Bonds typically cheesy one liners.

Tom Hooper at the 2021 GQ Men of The Year Awards – Photo: Scott Garfitt/AP/Shutterstock

Broccoli and Wilson, as well as their fellow Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives, have a tough couple of years ahead, and it is very likely that their current ideas board is far more expansive than the 100 this article looked at.

One thing is for certain however, with Bond, it is not the actor that defines the role, but rather the role that defines the actor.