Idris Elba, The Next James Bond??

Even as a youngster, I’ve always been a fan of the James Bond 007 movie series. To date, there’s been twenty-three Eon Productions’ produced films. The first was “Dr. No,” which debuted in 1962 and led by actor Sean Connery. But, my all-time favorite is Roger Moore. Moore took on the role in 1973 in “Live and Let Die.” His decade-long reign ended in 1985 with “A View to Kill.”

Since then, there’s been three more men to play the infamous role: Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. None of these men, in my opinion, captured the true essence of the character as well as did Connery and Moore. There’s a certain sophistication, talk, style, and international swag an actor has to have in order to effectively come across as Bond. Apparently, Craig has been the people’s choice for the last three installments. He is also starring as Bond in “Spectre,” which is scheduled to be released in November 2015.

With this being one of the most memorable (and longest) spy series, the character has only been played by a white man.

Finally, is it time for a black actor to play James Bond? Will fans and critics be able to handle a color swap?

Well, talk around the water cooler is that Idris Elba may be the next up. He himself hinted (in a way) on Twitter that he could possibly be our next James Bond. He has the international swag and accent. He’s extremely handsome. He has the acting ability to pull it off. So, why not?!!

Elba seems to think he’d be forever known as the “black James Bond,” which is why the idea isn’t sitting too comfortable with him.

“I just don’t want to be the black James Bond,” Elba told NPR. “Sean Connery wasn’t the Scottish James Bond, and Daniel Craig wasn’t the blue-eyed James Bond, so if I played him, I don’t want to be called the black James Bond.” (Page Six)

He does have a point. Maybe he could sign on for a multi-picture deal. That would be less damaging than playing the role for only one film. Plus, if Elba does sit for several installments, over time people will likely acknowledge him as just one of the James Bond guys.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? COULD IDRIS ELBA PLAY JAMES BOND? DO YOU THINK HE’D GET PIGEON-HOLD?