While there were a lot of answers about the James Bond franchise that we expected to have by now, like where Daniel Craig was going to leave the character. One question that we fully expected to be debating was, who's next? There will certainly be a new James Bond at some point down the road, and while Daniel Craig may technically still be holding on to the title for a few extra months, a number of names have been tossed around as potential successors and Sam Heughan is one name that keeps popping up, and he's totally cool with that.
There are a few different ways that the various contenders to the James Bond throne can react to being asked the question about becoming the next James Bond. They can claim they don't think about, which probably isn't true. They can say they would be interested in considering it, while sounding as noncommittal and disinterested as possible. Or, they can just be honest and say yes, I'll take that job. Outlander star Sam Heughan is very much in that third camp, as he recently told Australia's Daily Telegraph, that if the James Bond gig is ever offered to him, he's taking it, no question...
Obviously, yes – it would be a big yes. Of course any actor would want it. But I also have a theory that any reasonably well-known British actor who’s worn a suit instantly has their name thrown into the ring by fans.
Sam Heughan probably isn't too terribly far off the mark if we're being honest that any well known British actor who looks good in a suit gets their name thrown into the James Bond mix. Without ever having seen a given actor actually play James Bond, all you have to go on is a look and an accent. If you're a good looking white dude who can pull off a tux and order a martini, you've passed the first round of tests.
How quickly we'll get a new James Bond is anybody's guess. It may depend greatly on the reception to No Time to Die. If the movie does well, especially under what will likely still not be optimum conditions, when it opens in theaters next spring, then the studio may want to jump on the next chapter of the Bond franchise a bit faster. Otherwise, the studio could take their time. There were four years between the release of Pierce Brosnan's last Bond film, Die Another Day and Casino Royale, and Daniel Craig was only officially announced as the new Bond just as the film was starting production, 11 months before it hit theaters.
More than likely we're in for a similar situation with the next Bond, which means we probably won't know who the new James Bond is for a couple of years. And by then there could be an entirely new actor we've never heard of who comes on the scene and looks good in a suit.
