Daniel Craig, after a multi-year stint as James Bond, retired as the character in No Time to Die (2021) and it meant the search was on for the next super agent. Looking to the future, Amazon moved to hire both Denis Villeneuve and Steven Knight to work on the new 007 film, and with that, there was an increased search on their part to determine who would step into the legendary tuxedo of Bond. Fans, for their part, have their own ideas of whom they feel would make a perfect MI6 agent now in the King’s Service.
Top on the list of die-hard fans of the franchise were the likes of Henry Cavill and Idris Elba, both of whom have impressive portfolios perfectly capable of locking down the role with little fuss. However, those in charge of making these decisions seem to have an entirely different idea in mind. While no one can speak down on the quality both aforementioned actors would bring to the role, according to the revelation made by casting director Nina Gold, Amazon was eyeing a younger actor for the project and, as such, it meant the elimination of the Superman and Hijack stars.
The character of James Bond has always been played exclusively by white, Caucasian men, and Ian Fleming never explicitly wrote the words white or Caucasian in his original novels. It was clear that given his familial background, described physical traits, and cultural markers, Mr. Bond was a white British man. In the wake of new casting rumors regarding the character, questions surrounding both Bond’s race and gender have arisen. Could James Bond be black or female? Charlie Higson, who is the author of five bestselling Young Bond books among others, while speaking to The Telegraph, is in no doubt about who should, and who should not, be the next James Bond. “Bond could be black, that wouldn’t be a problem,” Higson said. “But there would be no point making Bond a woman, because the character’s about what it means to be a man. It’s a representation of manhood and manliness.”
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Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would Be Your Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt
Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn’t work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.
🎖️Rambo
🍸James Bond
🏺Indiana Jones
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🔧John McClane
🎭Ethan Hunt
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01
You’re dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.
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02
You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.
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03
You’re pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.
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04
The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.
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05
How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.
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06
Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.
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07
Things go badly wrong and you’re captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.
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08
What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn’t replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn’t know you had.
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09
Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.
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10
It’s the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.
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Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
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Rambo
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
James Bond
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Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Indiana Jones
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
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John McClane
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
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Ethan Hunt
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
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The New James Bond Should Be Announced Soon
Higson goes on to explain that Bond was, in some ways, a reflection of the man who created him in the first place. “Ian Fleming famously suffered from depression, and put a lot of that into both Bond and the villains,” the King Zero author explained. “Bond is in the same position as a lot of men. So long as he’s doing something, he doesn’t have to think about that other side of things.” So, should Higson’s analysis fly with those making the tough decisions, who might James Bond ultimately be? Recent reports suggest that Amazon is currently in the final stages of the selection process with six names — Jack Barton, Jack Lowden, Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Paul Mescal, and Harris Dickinson — making it to the latter stages. While a decision is yet to be made regarding who gets the final nod, there are rumors that the decision might have been made already.
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There is currently no official date for the next James Bond movie. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates as the search nears its end.
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