Aaron Taylor-Johnson is 007 Frontrunner

Movies

The James Bond rumor mill is running at the speed of sound. In late November, The Sun claimed that erstwhile Quicksilver and future Kraven the Hunter Aaron Taylor-Johnson (we’re at the point where actors are listing multiple Marvel characters on their CVs) had a screen test to play 007, and Barbara Broccoli and the other Bond producers – presumably including Broccoli’s stepbrother Michael G. Wilson – “loved him.” Yesterday, Matthew Belloni of Puck News confirmed this report, saying Taylor-Johnson met with Broccoli, and it “went well.” Belloni says the only thing working against Taylor-Johnson is his rising Hollywood star: with Kraven the Hunter and The Fall Guy on the horizon, he may become too famous for Broccoli’s taste. Regardless, he’s the current frontrunner, at least according to William Hill, the world’s biggest online bookmaker; as of mid-December, they’ve had Taylor-Johnson tied with Henry Cavill at 2-1 odds (and I highly doubt Cavill is getting it).

This rumor should be taken with some healthy dollops of salt. Any longtime James Bond fan will tell you that this franchise is surrounded by more fake news than an Onion pitch meeting, and that’s doubly true when an actor is about to be succeeded. But this one is not just being reported by British rags like The Sun; Puck News is more reliable, and if Matthew Belloni is saying the same thing, it’s worth mentioning. I’m not sure how I feel about Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Bond; I like him as an actor, but I haven’t seen him in anything comparable to Bond. People are going to tout Bullet Train, and while I really liked that movie, just because he was an Englishman who got into fights doesn’t mean he was basically playing 007. But he’s at least as good as pretty much anyone else in contention, allowing that Henry Cavill is probably not a serious candidate. And I don’t think his becoming more famous will be much of a problem; I doubt Kraven the Hunter will be a hit, and Ryan Gosling is the star of The Fall Guy, not Taylor-Johnson. Broccoli’s enthusiasm does nothing for me; she’s made it clear she wants to change James Bond even more than she and Daniel Craig already have. (Michael G. Wilson doesn’t even seem to care anymore.) Until these two cash in their chips and pass the legacy they’ve spat on to someone who really loves the character – if they even do that – I don’t think we’ll be seeing a great James Bond again.