Next James Bond: Hope for Tom Hardy after shift in 007 leaderboard

Daniel Craig’s final James Bond film No Time To Die brought the star’s journey as the incredible spy to an end. Now, the race is on for a new actor to take over as 007. While the official announcement will likely not arrive until next year, the Bond odds give a great insight into who is in the running.

Tom Hardy was previously a favourite to become Bond after rumours hit claiming he had been cast as 007 behind closed doors.

Unfortunately for Hardy fans, the claims of him joining the ranks of Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan were false. But his odds on becoming Bond skyrocketed.

Since then, Hardy has lost a lot of ground.

At the moment, the favourite to become James Bond next is Henry Cavill with 3/1 odds from Ladbrokes.

The British actor is best known for his work in the DC Comics universe as Superman, as well as his role of Geralt in The Witcher.

He is closely followed by another Netflix star, however.

Regé-Jean Page is currently second in the running to become the new and improved Bond.

The Bridgerton hunk has an incredible 7/2 on becoming 007. However, the British-Zimbabwean star has confessed he thinks the rumours of his casting are nothing more than “flattery”.

Tied in third place are Chiwetel Ejiofor and Idris Elba, both of whom have a strong 6/1.

These two mighty actors have enjoyed powerful careers in Hollywood, so their take on Bond would be extremely exciting.

But Hardy is not far behind both Page and Cavill.

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Hardy fans will have to wait and see what happens, as the actor himself certainly won’t address the Bond claims directly.

In fact, he was previously asked about becoming 007, and he replied: “If I mention it, it’s gone. You know, there’s a saying amongst us in the fraternity of acting, and in the fellowship of my peer group, that if you talk about it you’re automatically out of the race.”

He hasn’t won just yet, though. And Hardy could have some stiff competition on the way in the form of an actress, rather than an actor.

Lashana Lynch graced the screens on No Time To Die as a new 007 while Bond was AWOL.

Since then, the odds of a woman taking over as James Bond have been markedly slashed.

Ladbrokes have now awarded 12/1 odds on a woman becoming the next Bond character.

Alex Apati said: “Plenty of punters reckon a female could end up replacing Daniel Craig, and at 12/1 we’re not yet ruling it out.”

James Bond No Time To Die is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video now.