- Henry Cavill has emerged as the overwhelming favorite to step into the shoes of the suave British superspy. But fans have fears Amazon could mismanage the iconic franchise.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos may have found his next James Bond.
On Thursday, news emerged that his streaming service had acquired creative control of the iconic British spy.
When Bezos took to social media to ask who should step into the role next, Henry Cavill, who played a secret agent in Mission: Impossible—Fallout, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and last year’s Argylle, emerged as the overwhelming favorite.
Users even posted his audition tape for the role of Ian Fleming’s superspy when the now 41-year-old proved too young at the time to credibly portray the veteran MI6 operative.
Henry Cavill Screen test as James Bond (Casino Royale 2006).
— Ratiocination (@Ratiocination69) February 21, 2025
He was considered too young at the time. Pic.twitter.com/1XEVYzcULl
“Cast him right now and don’t screw it up, and you’ll make billions,” posted The Critical Drinker, a popular YouTuber.
Other voices supporting Cavill included Dogecoin creator Billy Markus and even Elon Musk himself.
The British actor handily beat out support for other candidates, including Mad Max: Fury Road’s Tom Hardy, Loki’s Tom Hiddleston, and Theo James from the Divergent franchise, as well as Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender. Bezos has yet to respond to the suggestions on platforms like X and Instagram.
Cavill doesn’t just have the chiseled good looks and acting chops to step into a Saville Row–tailored tuxedo, but he’s also a huge pop-culture nerd who not only played monster hunter Geralt of Rivia in the Netflix series The Witcher, he left after showrunners departed too far from author Andrzej Sapkowski’s original source material.
Can Amazon be trusted with the franchise?
Amazon got its foot into the Bond franchise when it paid $8.5 billion to acquire MGM Studios, the exclusive distributor of the movies.
But creative direction remained with the Broccoli family, which has been behind the suave assassin ever since his first outing in 1962’s Dr. No.
“To [Barbara] Broccoli, 007 is a gem that consists of a movie at a time, carefully crafted, and never out of her controlling hands,” wrote entertainment news site Deadline.
But there is plenty of trepidation in the fan community over Bezos gaining control.
For one thing, reports suggest Amazon had pitched a cinematic 007 universe, including an Amazon Prime spinoff series that risked diluting a franchise that lived for big-budget set pieces that come to life on the silver screen.
Don't know but you're perfect for blofeld
— Nathan J Robinson (@NathanJRobinson) February 20, 2025
“We are committed to continuing to make James Bond films for the worldwide theatrical audience,” Broccoli’s Eon Productions toldVariety after Amazon struck the deal with MGM.
The Amazon treatment of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth has not reassured fans.
The Lord of the Rings Amazon Prime series The Rings of Power has been a critical and commercial flop despite being the most expensive TV production ever made.
Viewership tanked during the first season and plummeted even further in the second.
A main concern was diversity hiring , which saw characters effectively swapped in race and gender as producers consciously reshaped a fantasy world to reflect today’s society. This treatment could pose an even greater problem with regard to 007.
Bond has traditionally been a white male with dark hair. As a result, news of Daniel Craig’s casting nearly 20 years ago sparked controversy because he is blond.
A move to a Black lead actor was strongly mooted, with Idris Elba the front-runner, but he has since ruled himself out of the running due to the debate around race.