Michael Shannon is one of the great modern movie villains. He's played the bad guy in everything from superhero movies like Man of Steel to the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water. One place he has yet to be the antagonist is the long-running James Bond franchise, though, as Jimmy Fallon recently brought up to the actor, there are many who would like to see that happen. Shannon thinks there's a specific reason why he's being attached to that film series, his remarkable resemblance to the actor Richard Kiel, who played one of the most famous Bond villains of all time, Jaws. Check out Shannon discussing the resemblance below.
While Jimmy Fallon says he doesn't see a resemblance between Michael Shannon and Richard Kiel, who played Jaws in a pair of Bond films in the 1970s, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, there is at least enough of a resemblance to see where people might get such an idea. It's less obvious with the facial hair Shannon has in his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, but if you compare Kiel to Shannon without the mustache, the comparison certainly looks closer.
While Michael Shannon says that Richard Kiel is among the actors he is most commonly said to look like, he seems glad when Fallon doesn't agree, which may mean if people expect to see Michael Shannon play a modern version of Jaws, that may be unlikely.
It's difficult to argue that Michael Shannon wouldn't make a fantastic James Bond villain. He's been a great antagonist in many movies and he certainly has the charisma to be a fantastic Bond baddie. Having said that, if you get Michael Shannon in your James Bond movie, having him play a modern version of Jaws would be an utter waste of talent. Jaws was never more than a henchman to the main villain of the movies he appeared in and you don't waste Michael Shannon as a henchman.
Jaws became instantly recognizable not simply of the metal teeth which gave the character his name, but because he stood at over seven feet tall, making him a massive roadblock for Roger Moore's James Bond. The character was so well liked by fans that even though he was a bad guy, he was given a love interest and a happy ending at the Moonraker.
We know there's a new Daniel Craig Bond movie on the way, so there is an opening available for a villain. There certainly would be worse choices for a villain than Michael Shannon. The as yet officially untitled Bond 25 is set to begin filming later this year with a November 2019 release currently scheduled.
