Aaron Taylor-Johnson Could Be the Next James Bond

Bullet Train star Aaron Taylor-Johnson has reportedly emerged as the frontrunner to play the next James Bond. Taylor-Johnson, 32, recently met with producer Barbara Broccoli, who oversees the 007 film franchise with her half-brother, Michael G. Wilson. Daniel Craig ended his five-film run with No Time to Die in 2021.

Taylor-Johnson's meeting with Broccoli went well, sources told Puck. The actor apparently checks all the boxes for Broccoli and Wilson, who are looking for a much younger British actor to play 007. The producers are also looking for an actor who isn't quite a household name yet. That could change for Taylor-Johnson soon since he stars in Sony's upcoming Spider-Man spinoff Kraven the Hunter and Universal's The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling. Kraven is expected to open on Oct. 6, while The Fall Guy is scheduled for March 1, 2024.

Although Taylor-Johnson is not a superstar, he has been acting since he was 6. He made his screen debut in the 2000 TV movie The Apocalypse. His breakout role came in 2010 when he played the title character in Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass. He also played Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron and had roles in Godzilla, Nocturnal Animals, A Million Little Pieces, Tenet and The King's Man. in 2022, he starred opposite Brad Pitt in Bullet Train. (Coincidentally, Vaughn directed Craig in 2004's Layer Cake, which put the actor on the map and led to his casting as Bond in 2005.)

Craig was cast as Bond at 37 and starred in the most financially successful films in the franchise. Skyfall (2012) became the first Bond movie to cross $1 billion globally. Spectre (2015) grossed over $880 million globally, while No Time to Die made $771.2 million during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bond was previously played by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan on the big screen.

No Time to Die ended in a shocking, unexpected way. In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Craig recalled asking Broccoli if he could kill Bond at the end of his run after Casino Royale opened in 2006. "If we kill Bond, we can begin again. I think Barbara thought that too," Craig said in December. "But, bless them, the studio, MGM, were, like, 'What are you talking about? Are you out of your minds?' There was reluctance. So we had to do it in secret, really."

Craig can now be seen on Netflix in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Taylor-Johnson's latest film Bullet Train is also available on the streamer.