Dwayne Johnson To Be The Next James Bond?
Could Dwayne Johnson be the next James Bond?
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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is already a professional wrestler, a video game hero in Jumanji, a Hawaiian demigod in Moana, a federal agent in The Fast & Furious, a future version of himself in Young Rock, and he’s about to become the most powerful antihero in the DCEU with Black Adam. But that’s not enough for the Rock. According to the opening moments of a new interview, Dwayne Johnson wants to succeed Daniel Craig as the next James Bond.
Johnson reveals his ambition in a recent talk with Esquire. The video opens with Dwayne Johnson confirming that his grandfather — the late Peter Maivia — played a villain in 1967’s You Only Live Twice. We see shots of Maivia hacking away at Sean Connery and then Johnson says, “I would like to follow in his footsteps and be the next Bond.” Obviously, if the Rock were to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, he’d play a Bond villain, but Johnson clarifies, “I don’t want to be a villain. You gotta be Bond.” You can watch the video below.
Could Dwayne Johnson be the next James Bond? Well, the Rock has at least one thing working against him — he’s American. In the nearly 60 year history of the James Bond film franchise, there hasn’t been a single American cast as James Bond. According to the BBC, the closest an American actor came to the role was the late Burt Reynolds. Reynolds was approached about replacing Sean Connery as 007, but he turned the job down because he didn’t believe he or any other American actor could believably play the role.
Of course, just because it’s never happened doesn’t mean it never could. Whether you’re a fan of the guy or not, it’s difficult to deny that — judging by his accomplishments — Dwayne Johnson isn’t the kind of guy to shy away from a challenge. Though, in at least one sense it could be Johnson’s accomplishments that work against his casting as 007. Right now, the actor’s already locked in to appear in Amazon’s holiday action movie Red One, Robert Zemeckis’ upcoming historical epic The King, San Andreas 2, Doc Savage, and the remake of Big Trouble in Little China. Then there’s Young Rock, any future DCEU appearances, Jumanji sequels, Moana sequels, and more. In other words, whenever Eon Productions casts the next James Bond, they’re probably going to want to cast someone with a hole in their schedule.
In the wake of the first footage reveal for Black Adam, Dwayne Johnson made waves in DC fandom by claiming his Black Adam could take Henry Cavill’s Superman. Fittingly, it’s looking like if the Rock does want to play Bond, that’s another contest in which he’ll have to face off against Cavill. At least as far as the fans are concerned, the Man of Steel actor is the favorite to take over the mantle of 007, and the actor is reportedly hoping for the part as well. In fact, the day before Johnson’s Esquire video was posted, the Hollywood Reporter quoted Mission: Impossible — Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie as casting his vote for Cavill.
