As a fan of the James Bond franchise, it feels like we have to keep one eye on how the 2025 movies are progressing, with the other keenly trained to learn any new updates pertaining to James Bond 26. At the same time, incidents like a handful of Casino Royale auditions seeming to leak to the internet are seemingly enough to stoke the fires of interest.
With 007 still looking for a new face at the moment, pondering who could have been is a pastime that makes its own sort of fun. The latest round of dreaming up alternate Bond history has hit thanks to an audition tape that sees actor Antony Starr’s take on Ian Fleming’s historic creation. YouTube user “Ron South” struck again, as this is another of the four audition tapes that the internet has been talking about.
As we kept in mind with Henry Cavill’s supposed Casino Royale audition reel, we still don’t know if these clips are 100% legit. All we have is the uploader’s claim that they were allegedly “found in a recycling Bin at a Movie Studio.” Keeping that in mind, The Boys star’s reading of the same Goldeneye scene used in each try out certainly feels like it’s the genuine article for 2005.
Looking back to that time period, Antony Starr was a relative unknown on the world stage. The New Zealand talent was still making a name for himself, with guest appearances in Xena: Warrior Princess and films like Without A Paddle being his then claims to fame.
Of course, 20 years later, what we know about The Boys has us freshly comparing 007 to the gleefully homicidal Homelander. As one would expect, that sort of pedigree has led fans of the Prime Video subscription driver to offer such entertaining thoughts as what you’ll see in this sampling:
- “Milk. Shaken, not stirred. Yummers.” - @nicoolio_gp
- “Bro already had the Homelander thing going back then.” - @KonaDaGamah
- “0:12 just standing there he already has the Homelander posture” - @MikeMJPMUNCH
- “Thank God he didn't pass, we could have lost Homelander! Dat is absolutely unacceptable!” - @asmetanka
- “He seems too nice to be Bond. Bond is a ruthless secret agent. This guy looks/acts like a pleasant school teacher.” - @YTguySmithy-lk6go
Ok, so that last one may not have necessarily been a fan of The Boys. At the same time, knowledge of Antony Starr’s seriously sinister superhuman and the deeds he’s done turn that comment into a pleasantly funny contrast. If you’re not a regular viewer of showrunner Eric Kripke’s breakout streaming hit, here’s a quick, but potentially spoiler-ish, primer on Homelander:
In comparing the footage from this Casino Royale audition and Antony Starr’s eventual claim to fame through The Boys, it’s hard for me to pitch him as the new 007. That’s not meant as a knock on the man’s work though, as Starr feels more like a perfect fit for a villain that mixes Alex Trevalyan’s coolness with the megalomania of someone like Moonraker’s Hugo Drax. Considering that rumors for Bond 26’s supposed tonal shift have indicated a new era reminiscent of Roger Moore’s time in the tuxedo, that is a pretty powerful combination in one’s skill set.
While the future of the James Bond movies is a bit up in the air at this point, that could be beneficial to Mr. Starr, should he want to become a part of the next chapter. As The Boys is set to end with its fifth season, predicted to be unveiled in a 2026 debut, that would seem like enough time to fulfill Homelander’s storyline.
However, if it comes down to a choice between that caped menace or a 007 role, one would think that Antony Starr would side with the stars and stripes he made so famous. As we don’t know how long we’ll be waiting for any Bond 26 updates, he kind of has all the time in the world to prepare, So if anyone has an action movie gig that could show off what his current skills would look like in such a setting, you may want to start pitching.
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