James Bond has been fighting villainous masterminds for over 70 years. Across books and films, the secret agent has stopped coups, inter-country wars, and planetary destruction. With every new villain comes a new, complex plot that James Bond is only barely able to stop in time. While some villains aren’t defeated the first time, as was the case with Blofeld, they do often meet their ultimate end at the hands of Bond. The villains that Bond finds himself up against often come across quite confident at first while later descending into some form of madness as Bond gets closer to stopping them.
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Rebecca Ferguson is a Swedish actress who has been exploding onto the scene as of late. Her acting career began on the Swedish soap-opera Nya Tider, and has only grown from there. She went on to co-star in the Mission: Impossible franchise with Tom Cruise as Ilsa Faust, cementing herself as a spy-based action star. Her most recent outing has been as Lady Jessica in Dune, showcasing her immense acting talent. Ferguson could easily portray a cold, calculating Bond villain while also performing any stunts necessary for the part.
Idris Elba is an English actor with such a broad range of movies in his background that it’s very likely everyone has seen him in something. Having been recognized for his roles across film and TV such as Stringer Bell in The Wire and Heimdall in Thor, Idris has easily shown he has the commanding presence required of a Bond villain. His role as the villain in Hobbs and Shaw goes to show that he’s also more than capable of stunts, as the character was almost a Bond villain in and of himself.
Leonardo DiCaprio has been in the acting game since he was a child, with his role in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape showcasing his acting talent from early on. While this actor’s skills finally earned him an Oscar after years of hit films, he hasn’t stopped turning in good roles since. A good, comparable role for his take on a Bond villain would be his time as Calvin Candy in Django Unchained. This character could switch from charming to threatening in an instant, with his dinner-table monologue especially standing out.
Anya Taylor-Joy began her acting career by leaving school at sixteen to pursue her craft. This seems to have worked out for her, as she found her breakout role in 2015’s The Witch in the role of Thomasin. Her ability and range have found her longer-lasting success with some of her more recent roles being in Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho and Netflix’s Queen’s Gambit. The latter role won her multiple awards for her performance. While she doesn’t quite have the commanding presence typical of Bond villains, she could easily portray a more subdued villain who pulls strings rather than directly involves themself in their schemes.
Oscar Isaac is a Guatemalan actor who began his career in the early 2000s. He did a lot of theater work before eventually breaking into film and working his way up the ranks. His breakthrough role came with Inside Llewyn Davis by the Coen brothers, where he was nominated for a Golden Globe. Oscar has since seen regular lead roles in other films from Star Wars to Dune. With all of these roles, Oscar has shown that he has more than enough range to portray a Bond villain, with his character in Ex Machina being very akin to a Bond villain already.
Any one of these talented actors would likely excel if given the chance to play a Bond villain. Some of them, seeing as they haven’t yet played a more villainous character, might even leap at the chance to do so, especially in a well-known franchise such as James Bond. Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, Leonardo Dicaprio, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Oscar Isaac are all very talented actors who can chew up the scenery and really make any given role their own. Although it will likely be some time until the world sees another Bond film, any of these actors would be an excellent debut villain attempting to foil whoever the new James Bond may be.
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