1. Christian Bale
An obvious, perhaps uninspired, choice. Bond or Batman, Christian Bale is usually breath-taking in all his roles. His acting CV is an incredible waterfall of success and as well as those dark character-studies we get in American Psycho, 3.10 to Yuma, The Machinist and The Fighter, Bale has proven he can do the action sequences befitting a blockbuster style too. Bale takes his acting to places most A-listers simply cannot reach-be it anorexia to buff masculinity- and would surely excel as Britains best-loved spy. The same cannot be said of recent Bonds, where the acting has been a little passive, wooden even; somehow too camouflaged amongst the huge CGI stunts and sets. In short, modern Bonds lack a certain protagonist-led ooomph, a gap Bale would likely fill with ease. If Brosnan was the true heir to Connerys dark, handsome version of the Bond ideal, Bale is probably Brosnans heir. But, a thing to note about those actors who did play James Bond. None were particularly famous at the time of being cast. Many bigger stars were overlooked in favour of a newbie signing a multi-film deal. Perhaps Bale, who undoubtedly should be James Bond, is simply too big a name nowadays.