Do We Have Our New 007?

This week, the news has been buzzing with the rumours surrounding Aaron Taylor Johnson being offered the role of 007 James Bond.

We have speculated just a tiny bit on the Bondathon over the course of the last couple years, but I have to say, if this does happen, if Aaron Taylor Johnson is offered the role of James Bond, I absolutely called it! The moment he stepped onto the screen as the Cockney assassin Tangerine in Brad Pitt's Bullet Train, I called it. I turned around to my wife and I said, “that's our next James Bond”.

He just looked the part in that royal blue striped three piece suit. with the swagger, with the build, he just looked like a killer. And the other thing I love about Aaron Taylor-Johnson is he is such a chameleon. Some of you won't even know who he is. I know that a lot of my clients this week, when I've said, “oh, what do you think about Aaron Taylor -Johnson as James Bond?” They're like, “who are you talking about?” And then when I mention his filmography, then they realise that they've seen him.

He is such a chameleon. I remember watching Tenet for the third time and it was only on that third watch that I realised that, spoiler alert, the soldier who rescues the protagonist is Aaron Taylor-Johnson. I was like, oh my God, is that him? And then I had to watch the credits just to confirm. But he really does go under the radar.

Despite having numerous acting credits from his teenage years, Aaron Taylor-Johnson's breakout role for many audiences likely came in the 2008 film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (was it Perfect Snogging?). This coming-of-age comedy introduced him to a wider range of viewers. The following year, in 2009, he landed a starring role in Matthew Vaughan's superhero film Kick-Ass.

Kick-Ass offered a refreshingly grounded take on the superhero genre. It followed the story of an awkward teenager who decides to become a real-life vigilante. Tired of being bullied, he suits up and takes matters into his own hands. While it's been a while since I last saw it, the film remains a favorite, and I'm definitely due for a rewatch this weekend. Following Kick-Ass, Taylor-Johnson continued to impress with diverse roles, delivering a particularly standout performance in Nocturnal Animals.

I mentioned Tenet just now and he also has done some more superhero work. He starred as Quicksilver in a couple of the Avengers movies, Age of Ultron, and he was in Captain America and the Winter Soldier, which for my money is still one of the best MCU films ever. And then more recently, he blew audiences away in the action flick Bullet Train. He's also slated to star in the upcoming Fall Guy remake alongside Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling – that one's coming out soon, and I can't wait! Being a huge fan of the original show from reruns back in the 80s as a kid, I'm especially excited.

But back to Aaron Taylor -Johnson as James Bond. So the rumours are that he has been offered the contract and he has screen tested. Now, I did hear from a pretty reliable source that he had screen tested. So I can pretty much be confident in that piece of news.

Whether he's actually been offered the Bond contract remains to be seen – Eon Productions are known for keeping things under wraps. But based on a very reliable source, I have a strong feeling about Aaron Taylor-Johnson becoming the next 007. At 34, he'd be around the same age Sean Connery was when he took on the role in Dr. No (1962). This casting could go in a couple of directions. They might choose to reboot the timeline entirely, considering Bond's fate in No Time to Die...

Now, some fans theorize that James Bond represents a single character throughout the film series. We see evidence of this in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, where Bond gets married – his wife is tragically killed later, but referenced in subsequent films like Goldeneye (Roger Moore) and potentially even the Timothy Dalton films. This continuity suggests the Bond from Dr. No to No Time to Die might be the same person.

Although there are some loopholes in that logic, but just go with me. Which means AJT is 007, the age that he's at makes it really exciting because they could actually go back in time and we could see a Cold War era young Bond getting his wings and everything. Or they could go down the route that 007 is a moniker that is given to any secret agent and given that the previous 007 is now deceased, we could be seeing a modern day set bond, new agent stepping up into the role. Because they did hint at that in No Time to Die when Bond was out of action and 007 was Lashana Lynch. So we could get a modern day set Bond, a new agent given the 007 handle and then we get a whole new set of adventures.

But I think Aaron Taylor Johnson will nail it. I think as long as he's supported by a great script, he could in years to come be seen as one of the great Bonds as well. Not that any of the five or six actors that have played Bond so far have been bad. Sean Connery was absolutely brilliant. Now that we've done the Bondathon and I've seen the Connery films for the first time ever (Roger Moore was the Bond I was aware of when I was a little child). And then Brosnan was my actual Bond, as in the one whose movies that I went to see at the cinema.

But Sean Connery, absolutely brilliant. I can see why so many people have a really strongly held opinion that Sean is the best Bond and there will never be anyone better. He was fantastic.

Roger Moore brought some levity to the role. He wasn't completely comical because he did have his moments but he brought a much lighter side to the character overall. Then we had Dalton who took it from the Roger Moore era and just sort of grabbed the role by the scruff of the neck and went back to the source material.

He didn't want to do Bond unless he was able to put what he thought the character should be into it. And then from the Dalton era…oh, I forgot Lazenby.

Everyone does that. Poor George Lazenby had his one shot with On Her Majesty's Secret Service. And we've talked on the Bondathon about all the problems with George Lazenby and the fact he could have carried on, but I think there was a bit of arrogance on his part.

But his one stint as Bond, for someone who had no acting experience whatsoever; he did a really, really good job.

Then we went from Dalton to Brosnan and he was just the combination of the best bits of Sean Connery, that sort of rough edge, the levity of Roger Moore and the intensity of Timothy Dalton. He combined all three of those aspects. And certainly his first two, Bond Adventures were absolutely fantastic films. The World Is Not Enough was okay, it was pretty good. And then Die Another Day, we're about to do that one for the Bondathon. I'm hoping that my opinion of it will be better than it has been. It's not a film that I've ever revisited because I just didn't like it.

And then we have Daniel Craig, who some people call Emo Bond! But he was a Bond for the modern day and the brief from the producers was that they wanted Daniel Craig's Bond to be what Christian Bale was to the Dark Knight, to Batman, in line with what Christopher Nolan did with those first three movies.

So yes, I think Aaron Taylor-Johnson will obviously bring his own thing to the role and I can't wait to see what he does because I just love him as an actor. He's so cool.

Speaking of Christopher Nolan, the other rumor going is that Nolan is going to be offered a three picture deal to direct. I'll be honest, I love Christopher Nolan as a director. He is getting a bit irritating with that whole not re -recording the dialogue of his actors thing.

I swear to God that last movie Oppenheimer, I couldn't understand a word anyone was saying in that. And if he's going to do Bond, that would be exciting if I kind of got a guarantee that he wasn't gonna do any of that nonsense with the audio and the dialogue. So my instinct is I don't want Christopher Nolan anywhere near it.

The same as I wouldn't want Denis Villeneuve, as big a fan as I am of his work. I think he's better with sci-fi and fantasy. Although he did Sicario, and Sicario was brilliant.

So Aaron Taylor Johnson, we may be close to having our new 007, which is very, very exciting news.

The world of Bond is very interlinked with my growing up, as a massive fan of the books and the films, Goldeneye the Game on the N64, one of the greatest games of all time. It influences a lot of what I do as a bespoke tailor and designer, especially when I'm dressing grooms and C-suite executives - that confidence, that swagger of 007. Everybody wants to just capture a little bit of that and bottle it up for themselves. Also fun memories of working on the promotional campaigns for Skyfall. We created that amazing coat and did a lot of work with the marketing teams with Heineken et al.

So Bond is very, very dear to my heart. I can't wait for them to announce this now and for them to get on with it. And we should all just ignore the haters, because I think TV presenters have already been slagging him off saying, he'll need to get a haircut etc. I mean, come on. When Daniel Craig was announced as Bond, he practically had shoulder length hair! Of course, Aaron’s going to get tailored and made over before he actually steps in front of a camera.

I really hope he doesn't get any hate. I hope that he doesn't get anyone piling on him if he is announced. And I hope that everyone gives him a chance to show us what he can do because I think it's really, really exciting. We are going to keep an eye on what happens in the news over the coming days once it is made official. Or if it's not and I and everybody else have got it completely wrong and Eon throw us a curve ball!

Whatever happens, we will be covering it on the Roberto Revilla London blog, on the YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/@robertorevillalondon and obviously we will be talking about it throughout the remainder of the Bondathon. I'm probably going to get together with John and Alex to do some bonus episodes and talk about what's going on in the real world with the future of the 007 franchise.

If you enjoyed this, if you're listening to the audio, please hit subscribe, give the podcast a rating and a review because the algorithms have changed and now Apple and Spotify, et cetera, are pushing the podcasts who get the freshest reviews. So I really, really appreciate that. And if you're watching this on the YouTube channel, thank you so much for your time. Thanks for lending me your eyes and ears. And again, hit that subscribe button if you haven't already and give the video a like.

And also let me know in the comments who your favourite Bond is and if you're excited to see Aaron Taylor -Johnson in the role or if you're sceptical and why. There's no right or wrong. Everybody's entitled to their own opinion. I think it's a really, really interesting conversation and I can't wait to have this dialogue with as many of you as I can. Take care. Thanks very much for listening or watching (or reading!).