James Bond: Idris Elba officially rules himself out as next 007

Ever since Daniel Craig’s swan song No Time To Die released back in 2021, there has been one question on everyone’s mind. Who will play James Bond next? Plenty of names have been thrown in the hat, but there’s always been one frontrunner among the popular consensus.

In recent weeks, it’s been claimed that Aaron Taylor-Johnson is in talks to take on the role. Tom Hardy, Aiden Turner, and Regé-Jean Page have also all been mentioned as potential contenders. That frontrunner I was talking about though? It’s Idris Elba. Ever since it was announced that Craig was retiring from the role, many hoped that Elba would be next in line. Bond producers even confirmed that the actor was being considered. The problem is, Elba doesn’t actually want to play Bond.

The actor next stars in Netflix’s Luther: The Fallen Sun which releases next month. Take a look at the trailer below.

Last year, Elba made the fact clear saying that he’s not overly fussed about playing Bond. It’s “not a goal for my career,” he explained but now, once again, Elba is emphasising that point. At this week’s World Government Summit in Dubai, Elba told the press that he’s too invested in portraying Luther to take on Bond as well.

As reported by LADbible, Elba said, “We've been working on the television show [Luther] for about 10 years and so the natural ambition is to take it to the big screen, and so we're here with the first movie. You know, a lot of people talk about another character that begins with J and ends with B, but I'm not going to be that guy. I'm going to be John Luther. That's who I am.”

It’s a fair point. Series producer Barbara Broccoli recently said that playing Bond is a 10 to 12-year commitment, adding that it’s difficult finding someone who is willing to sign up to that. Only time will tell who’ll eventually take the plunge.