The news that the next James Bond actor might be younger has led to the question of whether 007's age even matters anymore after the franchise has been through so many different iterations of the iconic super-spy. The question of who will be the next actor to play James Bond is almost impossible to answer despite (or because of) years of conflicting rumors. In recent years, names as diverse as Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Henry Golding, Henry Cavill, and Daniel Kaluuya have been rumored to be attached to the part, but the James Bond franchise's producers have not given viewers any clues about who is really in the running for the role.
While Daniel Kaluuya decided a Bond villain role was more his speed when quizzed about the role in a recent interview, most of the actors attached to the part have said nothing about their potential involvement with the series. This is an understandable choice when nothing official has been announced, especially in an era when online hype can soon turn into backlash overnight. However, one major issue that has repeatedly been mentioned in discussions of the next James Bond actor's casting has been the character's age.
Related: Bill Maher Is Wrong About Daniel Craig's James Bond
Questions like whether one actor would be too young for 007 or another would be too old for the role have been swirling around for some time now, as debate rages on among the franchise fandom over what age range is considered to be fitting for the part. However, these arguments ignore a bigger issue. Whether it is Tom Holland's much younger James Bond or Idris Elba's older 007, the question that viewers should be tackling is whether James Bond's age actually makes a difference either way. Judging by how Daniel Craig's sensitive, grounded version of James Bond brought pathos and gravitas to an older version of the character, the answer seems to be no.
The age of James Bond's actors has varied throughout the franchise's long history. When the series began in 1962, Sean Connery was only 32 years old, while the most recent James Bond, Daniel Craig, was around 51 when he shot his 007 swan song No Time To Die. However, Craig was not the oldest actor to take on the role, while Connery was not quite the youngest. Judging by the entire franchise's history, the average 007 actor age is 38 and a half, since the youngest (George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service) was only 29 while the eldest (Roger Moore in A View To A Kill) was 57. That is a pretty sizable age range of 28 years, while the original James Bond novels only place the character's age definitively once (with Moonraker listing him as 38).
Older James Bond actors have won over the 007 franchise audience before thanks to the consistent characterization they bring to the series. Specifically, older Bonds like Pierce Brosnan's winking ladykiller and Roger Moore's aging 007 have historically tended to play up the goofiness of the franchise to great effect. As proven by Moore's 007 constantly being betrayed by Bond girls, these are usually the Bonds who are borderline indestructible, effectively emotionless, and adept at bedding and killing countless love interests and enemies respectively without breaking a sweat, since their advanced age makes their absurd acumen at the business of espionage (and utter emotional detachment) comparatively believable. Brosnan, who eventually gained the role a full decade after he almost managed to nab it in the mid-80s, could have played 007 as a more human, less over-the-top self-parody if he had gained the role in his mid-30s but, taking on the part at 42, he instead channeled the goofiness that Roger Moore brought to his Bond debut aged 45.
From Lazenby's heartbroken ingénue, who memorably married his doomed love interest (something the older, tougher Connery would never have considered), to Connery in his debut Dr. No, to Dalton's surprisingly dark and disturbing 007, younger Bonds tend to be more grounded versions of the character. Not yet as slick as their older counterparts, they play down the cartoony invincibility of the role and lean into 007's pathos. A young, emotionless spy who is endlessly competent and utterly unfazed by his enemies would run the risk of being insufferably smug, so these more youthful 007 iterations tend to play into the character's inexperience and humanity to avoid coming across as soulless. However, when Craig took the darker edge of Dalton's younger Bond and channeled it into an older version of 007, the actor effectively rewrote the rules of how James Bond's age usually affects his characterization.
Related: Regé-Jean Page's New Movie Dents Those Next James Bond 26 Casting Hopes
Even though Casino Royale star Daniel Craig wasn't young when he took on the role and was comparatively old when he retired the part, he played the most sensitive, recognizably human version of James Bond so far. As a result, any new Bond actor can be as arch or sincere as they want in the part regardless of their age, since Craig's reinvention of the role essentially threw out the old rule book. By depicting James Bond as a loving family man with real emotional connections to other people, Craig disregarded the unspoken rule that says Bond actors over the age of forty-five should add a sense of winking, fourth-wall-poking irreverence to their persona. As a result of this choice, Craig paved the way for Idris Elba to play a naturalistic, believable version of Bond or for Tom Holland to make a younger 007 goofier, more playful, and more unabashedly cartoony.
While Moore's older, sillier Bond wouldn't work in 2022 with its blockbuster marketplace, there is still an audience for both larger-than-life, intentionally silly spy comedies and intense, comparatively realistic espionage dramas depending on the direction that the franchise's producers want to take 007's story. The James Bond franchise can take either of these tonal routes regardless of the next 007 actor's age, since Craig's tenure in the series proved that James Bond's age doesn't necessarily shape his attitude and actions. As such, the James Bond franchise is freer than ever when it comes to the tone of the next outing and the choice of actor to take on the iconic part next.