Next James Bond Henry Cavill hopes soar as UK public backs his 007 bid | Films | Entertainment

Henry Cavill actually came agonisingly close to being James Bond back in 2006 when he was down to the last two alongside another little known (at the time) actor, Daniel Craig. We all know how that went, and the poor 23-year-old was also told to maybe get in better shape. 17 years later and the British hunk is a spectacular specimen, with a back catalogue jam-packed with muscular actions figures from Superman and the Witcher to the beefcake baddie in Mission Impossible 7. He has never hidden his dreams to step into that 007 tuxedo and this month his hope surged again.

Cavill was the frontrunner favourite to be the next James Bond for much of last year – until young pretender Aaron Taylor-Johnson was reported to have screen tested for the role and impressed Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson.

However, this has now been disputed and Cavill has surged back out front in the latest odds from UK bookies Ladbrokes.

Spokesman Alex Apati told Express Online: “Henry Cavill has this month been the subject of more bets on Daniel Craig’s replacement than any other name.”

Although Cavill was rather distressingly (for many DC fans) dropped as Superman in James Gunn’s new vision for the DCEU featuring a younger Clark Kent, he still has a raft of new projects lined up, including a slick spy film. He will play the lead in Matthew Vaughan’s Argylle, out later this year. The avid gamer has also signed a major deal with Netflix to bring the Warhammer universe to the screen.

Hopefully, the British actor won’t be aged out of Bond contention, but it is worth remembering that he turns 40 this year and industry reports say Broccoli is looking for an actor under that age to take over a role that could potentially span at least a decade of films.