The “who’s the next James Bond” debate continues to rage on, as new names keep appearing in the heated race to see who Daniel Craig’s successor will be. A-listers like Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender have been duking it out with rising stars like Regé-Jean Page and Aidan Turner to play the mysterious spy. Of course, others have had their opinions on who should follow Craig’s run. Even Marvel directors Joe and Anthony Russo have weighed in on who should play James Bond now with a solid choice.
The Russo Brothers have worked with some of today’s biggest stars in huge action and superhero blockbusters since jumping into the MCU. They continued the trajectory with The Gray Man, as they directed Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Regé-Jean Page. Like everyone in Hollywood, the directing duo is aware of the ongoing Bond debate. Of course, Page’s name is constantly mentioned in the fierce competition, so they spoke up for the Bridgerton alum. Joe Russo said this about the actor potentially following in Daniel Craig’s footsteps:
He’s fantastic. I mean, he has more charisma in his pinky than most people do in their entire body. So you know, we’d watch him do anything – I mean we’d watch him read the phonebook
Well, there’s one Russo in Page’s corner. Playing villainous CIA official Denny Carmichael in the Netflix film may not be Bond, but viewers did get to see how good the 34-year-old actor would be as a covert agent. But Regé-Jean Page didn’t just impress audiences and one Russo, as Anthony Russo also sang his praises as a performer to Radio Times:
Yeah. [He’s a] very savvy performer and [has] so much charm.
It appeared the consensus is the Dungeons and Dragons star is the best candidate to play 007 after Daniel Craig. Regé-Jean Page has the charisma and suaveness to pull off the role as seen in projects like Sylvie’s Love and the Netflix action thriller. Maybe watching the action blockbuster (which you can watch with a Netflix subscription) will help him keep his frontrunner status.
The Russo brothers vouching for The Gray Man actor came on the heels of Regé-Jean Page getting pushed out of the lead to play the international spy after Henry Cavill, who wasn’t cast as James Bond originally for “being too young,” surged in the odds polls. The jump wasn’t surprising, as Cavill had been nipping at Page’s heels for the top spot for months. Cavill hasn’t been the Bridgerton alum’s only James Bond competition as Tom Hardy, Aidan Turner, Idris Elba and Richard Madden are rumored to be in the running to play Bond too. Plus, there’s The Batman’s Robert Pattinson, who was original Bond 25 director Danny Boyle’s pick to succeed Craig. Well, there’ll need to be a decision made within the next year or so, as series producer Barbara Broccoli revealed the next 007 movie will start filming in two years.
While the debate continues, viewers will get to see Regé-Jean Page next year when Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves arrives in theaters on March 3, 2023. In the meantime, check out what new films are arriving this year by looking over CinemaBlend’s 2022 movie schedule.