2. Damian Lewis/Idris Elba
Licence to speculate here with a shared double whammy. Whilst selecting two candidates is cheating, either man would be revolutionary in the Bond franchise. For Bond should be ginger. Or black. Perhaps one day hell be both. Lewis would actually make a fine choice as Bond. He excelled as the soldier-cum-terrorist in Homeland and impressed as squadron leader of Easy Company in Band of Brothers. Good-looking, tall, well-spoken, Lewis would be a neat ambassador for the role. A beacon of light, one might say. But would those bad guys like Blofeld take a ginger James Bond seriously?
Then what about Idris Elba? Stringer Bell would make a superb James Bond, particularly in the new, psychologically complex version that Craig has been asked to portray. Elbas own comments on the matter, I dont want to be known as the first black James Bond. Shame, because his potential put-downs would be legendary; Q, are you taking notes on a mother f*ckin criminal conspiracy?