After taking the helm of Goldeneye, it made all the sense in the world for Martin Campbell to direct 2006's James Bond reboot Casino Royale. The movie was a success, and spawned a series of movies that, while a little hit-and-miss at times, delivered some of 007's best adventures on screen.
With No Time to Die ending Daniel Craig's tenure as Bond, there's a lot of excitement to see who will pick up where he left off in the next iteration of the long-running action franchise.
Man of Steel star Henry Cavill remains a fan-favourite choice, though this wouldn't be the first time he was eyed to play the iconic Ian Fleming creation. Talking to The Express, Campbell revealed just how close the Superman actor came to playing 007 nearly two decades ago.
"He looked great in the audition. His acting was tremendous," the filmmaker recalls. "And look, if Daniel didn’t exist Henry would have made an excellent Bond. He looked terrific, he was in great physical shape...very handsome, very chiselled. He just looked a little young at that time back then."
"I wasn't favouring Henry. The way they work with Bond and it’s pretty terrific is when they decide on the actor and you audition – in our case, it was eight people – it’s very democratic. It was myself and the producers, casting director, etc. And you go through the eight people and you put your hand up as you talk through each person and ultimately everybody has to be unanimous in their decision."
Asked if he thinks the now 40-year-old actor could still play Bond, Campbell added, "I think they sign on for three Bonds, I’m not absolutely 100 per cent certain of that. So that’s going to take, what, six years of your life maybe? The next guy’s going to have to do that."
"Henry’s 40, so by the time he’s done the third one he’s going to be 50 and anything beyond that’s two, three years per Bond. He’s in good shape Henry, he’s a good guy. He did very well in the audition, but ironically he was too young."
Like Idris Elba, it feels like the ship has probably sailed on Cavill playing this character, a shame when we're sure he would have knocked it out of the park. Still, had he starred as 007, there's no way we'd have also seen him as the DCEU's Superman.
Based on how his tenure as that superhero ended, Cavill may well have preferred playing Bond, but the current expectation is that the actor who inherits the role from Craig will be in their 20s or 30s.
Stay tuned for casting updates as we have them.