Tom Hardy Is The Best Bet To Play James Bond After Daniel Craig
According to various betting websites, Tom Hardy is now the odds-on favorite to play James Bond when Daniel Craig is done with the role
This article is more than 2 years old
Britain’s leading bookmakers are betting good money to see Tom Hardy don 007’s classic Bespoke, an Oddchecker ranking reveals. The wagers are in, and it seems the Venom star is first in line to succeed Daniel Craig as James Bond — if gambling markets are to be believed. But the odds have been in the Hammersmith native’s favor since news of Craig stepping down fueled headlines; Hardy is currently in the running alongside Bridgerton standout Regé-Jean Page, fresh face James Norton, fan-favorite Henry Cavill, and former Bond Pierce Brosnan’s personal pick Idris Elba.
Oddchecker happens to tally the same hopefuls. Regé-Jean Page falls short of his reported odds as he drops to number two; Tom Hardy is in the top spot, with the largest betting ratio at 40 to 17. Lesser-known actor Clive Standen, who played a young Bryan Mills in NBC’s Taken series, jumps to number three and is implied to be a new contender. James Norton comes next at fourth with a whopping 28 to 5 ratio with one bookmaker. Lashana Lynch, who already plays Craig’s relief in No Time To Die, hovers over fifth place; positive reception on Daniel Craig’s last outing as 007 likely contributed to her ranking, the full-length trailer for which came out recently. She doubles on the top ten as both fifth and tenth place, due to an error in spelling.
While they might not be real contenders over Tom Hardy, the next five spots are filled by Outlander’s Sam Heughan, The Suicide Squad’s Idris Elba, The Witcher’s Henry Cavill, and soap actor Justin Hartley. Cavill’s record boasts the most positive bets with solid eights and nines across the board. Same goes for Elba, with consistent sevens and fives. Heughan and Hartley are doubly impressive, with nines and tens all throughout. For one, Hartley’s recent work (Injustice, as Superman) doesn’t even show his face, and somehow he too made the cut. Still, the odds are certainly off, given the ratios handed out to each contender. Regé-Jean Page, Tom Hardy, and James Norton have more people betting against them than all five combined, yet they dominate the tally.
The rest of the list is riddled with longtime fan-favorites that never quite attracted studio interest. Richard Madden (Eternals) is the closest to the top ten, with a massive twelve in his record, with Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) tailing. Murphy deserves more bragging rights than executives realize; his record rivals Tom Hardy’s in that a 23 to 2 ratio hails from the same bookmaker who ranked Hardy’s betting odds. Aidan Turner (The Hobbit) features an almost identical set as Murphy’s and should ideally place higher. Tom Hiddleston (Loki) comes next, with a solid fourteen from the same bookmaker who fixed Turner’s and Murphy’s. Funnily enough, the next spot just says “any USA actor,” which had fourteen bets from the same category.
Tom Hardy has had a special couple of years thanks to Sony. His Venom movies are leading the studio’s growing slate of tie-in Spider-Man films, with the sequel, Let There Be Carnage, hitting theaters on October 1. He also played notorious gangster Al Capone in a biographical movie released last year. If momentum is to be believed alongside betting odds, maybe Hardy is fated to be the next James Bond. Daniel Craig’s final outing as the beloved super spy, No Time To Die, comes out a few days later on the 8th.
