After years of persistent rumor and internet debate, Idris Elba has put the speculation to rest himself. According to Deadline, the Golden Globe winner has confirmed he was never genuinely in contention for the 007 role, noting that the producers are steering toward a younger actor as the official search for the next James Bond gets underway.
Why This Changes the Fancasting Conversation
Elba's candor is actually a gift to fans who've been waiting for permission to move on. With the search officially open and a clear directorial signal — younger — the field of realistic candidates just got a lot more interesting. We're likely talking about someone in their mid-30s at most, with the physicality, the gravitas, and the kind of international appeal that can carry a franchise for a decade or more. That's a genuinely exciting brief, and it's exactly the kind of wide-open casting puzzle that the myCast community lives for.
The question isn't just who fits the tuxedo. It's who can redefine Bond for a new era the way Daniel Craig did in 2006 — someone unexpected enough to generate conversation but talented enough to silence the skeptics the moment they appear on screen.
What myCast Fans Are Actually Voting For
The myCast community has been busy across multiple Bond fan casts, and the data tells a compelling story. The most-voted story, James Bond, has accumulated 22 total votes — and the Bond pick there isn't subtle. Richard Madden has pulled in a dominant 15 votes for the lead role, making him far and away the top fan choice in that story. It's not hard to see why: the Bodyguard star has the brooding intensity, the action credentials, and — crucially — the age profile that producers are reportedly targeting. Ralph Fiennes leads the M vote in that same story with 3 votes, while Naomie Harris earns 2 votes to reprise a Moneypenny-adjacent role, suggesting fans want some continuity in the supporting cast even as the lead changes.
Over in the James Bond story with 8 total votes, the picks skew toward a more ensemble-minded reimagining. tops the Bond vote there — another dark-haired Brit with serious dramatic chops and a fanbase that would mobilize hard for him. The supporting choices in that story are fascinatingly specific: as M, as Q, and as Moneypenny paint a picture of a grounded, character-driven Bond world that feels very much in the Craig tradition.