Fill up your Aston Martin and dust off your Tom Ford tuxedo, we’re returning to His Majesty’s Secret Service. After an arduous search for the next James Bond, it’s been revealed that the role of 007 has officially been offered to British native Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Should the 33-year-old accept, he will join one of the longest-running franchises in Hollywood history as the seventh actor ever to take up the mantle of the dashing covert agent.
As initially reported by The Sun, a source revealed “the formal offer is on the table”, citing that the role is Taylor-Johnson’s should he choose to accept it.” “[Taylor-Johnson] is going to sign his contract in the coming days and they can start preparing for the big announcement,” the insider added.
Representatives of the James Bond franchise, including producer Barbara Broccoli, are yet to comment on the casting speculation, however, they hinted at the future of the series following Daniel Craig’s departure in 2021. At the time, Broccoli claimed there was “a big road ahead” and that the character would be “reinvented for the next chapter”. She declared that producers “haven’t even begun” modernising the franchise, as it’s apparent a two-year hunt for the next Bond has proved fruitful in adapting the Ian Fleming-created character for contemporary audiences.
Craig hung up Bond’s Walther PPK and Omega watch after the release of No Time To Die. As Craig’s Bond drowned in the Sea of Japan at the end of the film, it’s not yet clear if the producers will continue the canon set by this anthology or manufacture a prequel. Plus, with so much unadapted material still yet to receive the on-screen treatment, Taylor-Johnson’s Bond could look to the golden age of the series in films like Sean Connery’s balmy Dr. No. Taylor-
Johnson rose to prominence in the 2008 British chick-flick Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. He flexed his chops as an action star in the satirical superhero film Kick-Ass and, more recently, Bullet Train against Brad Pitt. We’ll be holding out for official confirmation before pouring a Vesper martini in his honour. But when we do, it’ll be shaken, not stirred.
