As No Time To Die officially signals the end of Daniel Craig’s time in the role of James Bond, everyone has been trying to figure out who’s in the running to replace him now that he’s left. Naturally, once this subject starts to crest in any conversation, one candidate who has frequently come up in the discussion is Idris Elba. But according to a James Bond expert, Elba has missed his chance for the best window to play 007.
Author Robbie Sims, who is also known as an expert on the Bond franchise at large, went on record as agreeing that Idris Elba would be a great pick for the next man in the tux, but nixes his chances for one particular reason:
Idris Elba would be great as Bond. I think he’s missed the boat unfortunately since he’s in his late forties now. So if they wanted him to do more than one film, there’s a danger he’s going to go into A View to a Kill territory where he’s a lot older than his leading lady.
In an interview with the British publication Express, Robbie Sims cites some very specific concerns with Idris Elba potentially being cast as James Bond. Using the example of the late Roger Moore’s stint as Bond, which ran from 1973’s Live and Let Die to 1985’s A View to a Kill, there was consistently a problem where Moore would be significantly older than the ladies who would play his co-leads.
As Robbie Sims alluded to in his remarks, by time Roger Moore starred in A View to a Kill, the actor was 57 and starring with Charlie’s Angels Tanya Roberts, who was 29 at the time. With Idris Elba roughly the same age as Moore was when he was cast in the iconic role of Ian Fleming’s iconic superspy, an extended run with the character would yield some interesting pairings as time goes on.
Not to mention that towards the end of a potential Elba run of James Bond movies, the action sequences might look something like this:
So who does Robbie Sims think has a better shot at becoming the next James Bond over Idris Elba? Well, further along in his interview, he mentioned two names that have been bandied about in the world of James Bond casting previously: Venom actor Tom Hardy and The Witcher star Henry Cavill.
However, with both men already saddled with the baggage of other familiar characters in their theatrical canon, Robbie Sims believes the best choice for James Bond would be actor Riz Ahmed, whose experience in franchises like Star Wars and Venom isn’t as baked in as either Tom Hardy or Henry Cavill’s resumes.
Idris Elba fans are probably heartbroken to hear that the lessons of the 007 franchise dictate that he be removed from the running for the lead. Yet with the actor himself pretty content with distancing himself from those rumors of consideration time and again, as well as a similar, but radically different role as rogue agent Brixton in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, it might be a good time to let go of the past and look towards the future.
No Time To Die is currently set to open on November 25, but if any further updates on that new release date take place, you’ll hear about them on CinemaBlend as they break.
