Shaken and Stirred

Next James Bond Casting Rumor Reveals An Awesome Twist

Are we getting TWO James Bonds in the next movie?

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 23: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white) Daniel Cr...
Mike Marsland/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Fatherly Guide To James Bond

Will the next James Bond actor be super young? Or, could we get a middle-aged Bond? What about a retired, getting-too-old-for-this-sh*t Bond? The answer might be yes. We’re maybe getting all of those things. According to a wild, and utterly unsustained rumor, the next James Bond film could feature two actors playing 007, one younger and one older.

According to the tabloid The Sunand republished by a few Bond fansites — it’s possible that the format of the next James Bond movie could be unlike anything a Bond film has ever done before: Have two actors playing James Bond at two different stages in his life. According to the rumor, 27-year-old Paul Mescal would play the younger Bond in this multi-decade story, while an unnamed actor would play the older Bond in the film. Could a previous Bond actor return to play the older 007 in this scenario? Daniel Craig seems almost certainly done, but what about Timothy Dalton? How about bringing the wonderful Pierce Brosnan back?

While there’s no reason to believe this is actually going to happen, this rumor could align with the rumor that Christopher Nolan wants to do a series of Bond films set in the 1950s or 1960s, roughly based on the original Ian Fleming novels. If this rumored two-Bond movie does happen, having the young Bond in the 1960s could be a fascinating kind of remix of the original films, while having the older Bond set in the quasi-present day could feel subversive.

The analysis of James Bond’s psyche exists in the novels, and to an extent in the Daniel Craig movies. But, a hypothetical Bond movie told across his entire lifetime could take the introspective aspects of 007 to a whole new level.

As of this writing, the next James Bond actor has not been revealed. Here’s Fatherly’s guide to streaming all the Bond films right now.