Idris Elba has put a long-running James Bond rumor to rest, saying he was “never in the race” to become 007. Speaking last week at the Los Angeles premiere of Masters of the Universe, the 53-year-old actor said his name was not really in contention at all, even as speculation around his candidacy had persisted for years.
That answer lands now because Amazon MGM Studios says the search for Daniel Craig’s successor is underway, and fans have again been looking for clues about who will take over the role. Craig gave his final performance as Bond in No Time to Die in 2021, and the franchise’s new era is being shaped under fresh control after Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli handed creative authority to Amazon in February 2025.
Elba was once one of the most persistent fan favourites in that conversation, but he said the idea never got that far. “My name’s not getting thrown out, no way,” he told People magazine. “They’re going younger. I’m honestly not in the race ever. I wasn’t in the race in the first place.”
The comments also fit the direction the Bond project has been taking. Reports in September said Denis Villeneuve was looking for an “unknown” actor to lead the first Bond film of the Amazon era, with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight writing the script and a release not expected until 2028. That leaves the biggest casting question unresolved: Amazon MGM has confirmed the search is on, but it has still not named the man who will follow Craig.
Elba’s own history with the role shows why the rumor lasted so long. In 2011, he told NPR that he would “definitely consider” playing Bond, though he also said, “I just don’t want to be the Black James Bond,” adding, “Sean Connery wasn’t the Scottish James Bond and Daniel Craig wasn’t the blue-eyed James Bond.” Fourteen years later, he is closing the door himself, and the next Bond remains exactly where the speculation has left him for now: unnamed.
