It’s been one of the most popular and talked-about specials betting markets of the last decade or so, and we’re still no closer to finding out who will win it.
So let’s kick things off with a little bit about the actors who have played James Bond in the past, over the course of 25 films:
- Sean Connery: 1962 - 1971
- George Lazenby: 1969
- Roger Moore: 1973-1985
- Timothy Dalton: 1987-1989
- Pierce Brosnan: 1995-2002
- Daniel Craig: 2006-2021
Lazenby is the only actor to have played Bond just once, while Dalton played him only twice.
In terms of the nationalities of the actors playing the role, Connery was Scottish, Dalton is Welsh, and Brosnan is Irish; Lazenby is Australian. Moore was English, as is Craig.
“My Name Is Bond, James Bond…”
It’s hard to think of a better-known film character in the history of film than the iconic British secret agent who is just as comfortable handling a custom-made revolver or using one of his many cool, secret gadgets supplied by Q as he is coming up with some show-stopping one-liners or getting the better of an arch-nemesis at the poker table in a glitzy private casino.
The Bond legacy on screen goes back to 1962, when Sean Connery first played Bond in Dr No and has continued over the decades, the latest instalment of which was back in 2021, when Daniel Craig donned the famous 007 tuxedo for the fifth and final time in No Time to Die before hanging it up for good.
58-year-old Craig has decided to call it a day and allow someone else to play the smooth secret agent who can do the lot; after all, time waits for no one.
Ever since Craig announced his retirement from 007 duty a few years ago, the search has been on to find his successor and plenty of good candidates have been among the favourites over the years, ranging from Idris Elba to Danny Dyer, Timothy Chalamet to Clive Owen.
But right now, at the back end of 2026, some very different names are at the top of the betting, and not all of them are exactly household names.
The Favourites to Be the Next James Bond
It's easy to assume odds-on favourite Jack Lowden is that price for a reason. That it’s been leaked somewhere that he’s the one the studio wants, that he’s been spotted meeting producers or something like that, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
So with little actual information to go on, it really is wide open, and any one of 10-15 actors at the head of the market has a sporting chance.
So instead, read what we’ve said about the chances of the four frontrunners, check out our shortlist of a few further contenders at the end, and decide for yourself who you think will be the next James Bond.
Jack Lowden
Odds: 1.5-1.65
Lowden, the 36-year-old Scottish actor, ticks plenty of the boxes required to be the next Bond.
A physically powerful and tall man at 1.85m, much like how Bond was written in the books, he also has steely good looks and has shown he can play a quiet and intense character (like Bond himself) in his role in the hit TV show ‘Slow Horses’, perhaps what he’s best-known for, while also displaying athleticism in the likes of ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Fighting with My Family’, a film about a family of pro wrestlers.
But there’s something else to add to the equation here. Though Bond actors have rarely won the industry’s biggest awards, Lowden has picked up numerous ones, including BAFTAs, the Cannes award, and even the Laurence Olivier Award. While playing Bond doesn’t necessarily require a serious, award-winning actor, it certainly won’t do any harm if he is.
Callum Turner
Odds: 2.25-7.0
Hammersmith-born Turner is another man you wouldn’t want to rile up in a dark alley, and at 1.87 he’s a tad taller than rival Lowden; he's even played as an uncompromising football central defender in the past. And that’s as an actual player, not as an actor playing a player!
So he’s certainly got that much-needed physicality for the role, too.
Some of his best-known performances include The Capture, Masters of the Air and perhaps most famously of all, two Fantastic Beasts films, so that’s a good mix of action and drama right there, which, of course, Bond films mostly are.
Among his supporters to get the 007 role is George Clooney, no less, who directed him in ‘The Boys in the Boat’, a film about the US rowing team at the 1936 Summer Olympics. So if everyone’s favourite salt-and-pepper-haired heartthrob says so, maybe there’s something in it.
And whereas it’s not a requirement to play Bond to have a celebrity wife, he just happens to be married to Dua Lipa, which will generate plenty of interest in future Bond films among her army of fans. That can never be a bad thing, either.
Jack O’Connell
Odds: 11.0
While Clooney was busy endorsing Callum Turner, director Danny Boyle of The Beach, Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later fame was making a case for Jack O’Connell, who he directed in 28 Years Later in 2025.
Boyle went out of his way to say O'Connell was his choice to get the role, though Boyle himself won’t have a say in who actually gets it.
Performances in well-known movies such as Sinners and Back to Black recently boosted his acting credentials, but one possible problem is that he tends to play broody anti-heroes, whereas Bond’s charm, wit, and charisma may require a different type of actor.
Robert Pattinson
Odds: 13.0
Pattinson has gone full circle since we first saw him as a pale, skinny vampire in the highly commercial Twilight saga, then spending a few years featuring in independent, serious movies such as The Devil All the Time, High Life and The Lighthouse as he tried to move away from being known as the character who inspired Team Edward in Twilight and its two sequels.
That said, he’s been in the spotlight more recently, appearing in big-budget movies, including The Batman, The Drama, and the biggest of them all, The Odyssey, so maybe he’s not just acting out of passion after all. Besides, no actor in their right mind would turn down the chance to play Bond, would they?
He may not have the most classic good looks, but he’s also got no shortage of fans who like his somewhat unusual appearance, so he’s not without a chance to play 007, especially if you remember Bond is as much a lover and charmer as he is a world-saver.
Best of the Rest
Among the other better-known actors in the mix for the much-coveted role are Henry Cavill (Superman) at 15.0, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train) at 21.0, Theo James (White Lotus) at 26.0, and Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein) at 34.0.
