Henry Cavill has been mooted as one of the front-runners to replace Daniel Craig as the next James Bond, and if he gets the role he'll be carrying on a 007 casting tradition. Anticipation for the 25th film in the Bond series, No Time To Die, is gathering pace – even with delays to the film's release due to the ongoing health crisis. The film will mark Daniel Craig's last appearance as 007, with speculation growing over who will replace the 52-year-old.
The list of potential replacements has shifted somewhat in the build-up to Craig's departure, but among the current front-runners are Game of Thrones and Bodyguard star Richard Madden, Happy Valley's James Norton, and even No Time To Die actress Lashana Lynch herself. Of course, there have been some big-name mainstays on the list for some time, including Idris Elba, Michael Fassbender, and Henry Cavill. Fresh off his starring role in Netflix's The Witcher, Cavill seems poised to step into the role of 007, and has remained a part of the ongoing Bond replacement debate since before Craig's departure was made official. In fact, the Mission: Impossible – Fallout actor has been tentatively connected to the 007 franchise for some time.
While nothing is certain at this point, if Henry Cavill becomes the new James Bond, he will be the latest in a line of Bond actors who almost appeared much earlier in the series' history than they ultimately did. Back in 2006 when Casino Royale director Martin Campbell was casting the lead for his Bond reboot, Cavill auditioned alongside numerous other hopefuls. And while Craig was eventually offered the role, Cavill was said to be the director's second choice – narrowly missing out on the gig due to his age. At the time, the British actor was just 22-years-old, and would have been the youngest Bond ever to have been cast, had he won the part. But if the Man Of Steel star manages to clinch it this time around, he won't be the first Bond actor to have missed out on the role only to win it back at a later date.
Before Sean Connery debuted as Bond in 1962's Dr. No, producer Albert R. Broccoli and Bond author Ian Fleming were said to be eyeing Roger Moore for the role. Moore would also be considered to take over from Connery after 1967's You Only Live Twice, in an earlier iteration of The Man With The Golden Gun. Plans for that particular entry in the Bond franchise were shelved, but Moore would eventually be granted a licence to kill in 1973's Live And Let Die.
And Moore wasn't the only Bond actor to have missed out on an opportunity to appear earlier in the Bond chronology. Eon, the studio behind the series, was pursuing Timothy Dalton as early as the late-60s to replace Sean Connery. At the time Dalton was said to be concerned about Connery's legacy as the "definitive Bond", but two decades later, after both George Lazenby and Roger Moore had been and gone, he would appear for the first time as 007 in The Living Daylights. Even then, producers were hoping to secure Pierce Brosnan, who was tied into a contract with TV show Remington Steele – preventing him from taking on the role in the late 80s. Brosnan would, however, eventually debut as Bond in 1995's GoldenEye, following Dalton's two-film run.
The James Bond franchise has an almost 60-year tradition of casting actors in the lead role who have been in contention for years – sometimes decades. Of course, none of this necessarily means Henry Cavill has more of a chance than anyone else, but it seems being previously connected to the role of 007 certainly can't hurt his chances. That said, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan were all being actively pursued for the lead role by the studio. In Cavill's case, he was overlooked in favour of another actor who the filmmakers actually preferred. But tradition is an important element of the Bond films, which of-late have tried to revive numerous 007 trademarks, with Q-Branch's return and the Aston Martin in Skyfall. Perhaps casting Henry Cavill as 007 will be the latest adherence to James Bond tradition.
