Finally, a black James Bond?!
Hold that thought.
After some exciting chatter late last year about Idris Elba possibly playing 007, our dreams were soon crushed when Elba said that all this Internet rumor nonsense ruined any chances of him playing the iconic character passed down generations of so many white male actors. "Honestly, it's a rumor that's really starting to eat itself," he said earlier this year. "If there was ever any chance of me getting Bond, it's gone."
Even after Elba shot down our hopes and dreams, a thought lingered: It's about goddamn time for a black James Bond, no?
Some good and bad news: Actor David Oyelowo (best known for playing MLK Jr. in Selma) will be stepping into those spy shoes. Unfortunately, it will only be in... audiobook form. He will voice 007 in Anthony Horowitz's Trigger Mortis (not penned by Ian Fleming but approved by his estate and part of the official collection), out Sept. 8.
Oyelowo told The Hollywood Reporter he was "very honored" to be chosen by the Fleming estate. "I am officially the only person on planet Earth who can legitimately say: 'I am the new James Bond,'" he said. "Even saying that name is the cinematic equivalent of doing the 'to be or not to be' speech."
Very happy for Oyelowo, but is this really the closest we'll get to a black James Bond? No casting choices have been made yet for future 007 films (and Daniel Craig is set to star in one more Bond film after the upcoming Spectre), so perhaps there's still hope yet. Who's your fantasy Bond pick?
