Tom Hardy Comments On Those James Bond Rumors

“No Time To Die” sees the final outing for Daniel Craig in the iconic role as MI6 agent James Bond and fans have already started giving their own ideas of who should take the part in “Bond 26.”

Various actors have been rumored as potential contenders over the years, such as Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Hardy, Henry Cavill, Jamie Bell, Rege-Jean Page, Riz Ahmed, Richard Madden, Henry Golding, Aidan Turner, James Norton, Cillian Murphy, Sam Heughan, and Jack Lowden.

Franchise producer Barbara Brocolli poured cold water on the idea they already have someone locked-in as the new Bond, stating recently they won’t even “start thinking” about a search until next year.

When asked about the rumor by Entertainment Tonight while promoting “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” Tom Hardy responded with simply, “I don’t know about that.”

Not really the response fans were likely hoping for from the British actor. Hardy isn’t usually a cagey person and had been given a ringing endorsement from director Christopher Nolan while speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in the summer of 2017 during the promotion of their WWII drama “Dunkirk.”

It remains to be seen what exactly producers are looking for but being able to commit to 10-15 years as Bond feels like a prerequisite, making it tougher to see older actors being in the mix playing the role into their ’60s. Hardy is currently 44; presumably, a new film wouldn’t get off the ground until he was at least 46. Craig is leaving the role now, believing he is too old to continue, and he’s 53.

Those that might be unfamiliar with the hiring practices of the franchise producers at EON could be unaware that while Tom Hardy looks the part is too busy with other franchises (“Venom” and “Mad Max”) and potentially too famous for being genuinely considered, as producers like the idea an actor’s face being mainly synonymous with the James Bond character.