Is Henry Cavill Finally Getting James Bond's $14.4B Suit?
In the Casino Royale casting for the James Bond role, Henry Cavill lost to Daniel Craig who took over Agent 007 for more than a dozen years, but it seems like now he might get a rematch of sorts.
Daniel Craig 's quite modest career at that point received a massive boost after he starred in five James Bond movies and had the legendary MI16 agent associated with him for many years.
However, Craig's time as 007 is over: his Bond died in the last film, No Time to Die, and now a new actor is going to wear the suit.
Back in the day, Henry Cavill was one of Craig's main competitors for the role, but he lost the race because of his age and lack of experience.
As the movies' casting director, Debbie McWilliams, admitted, she just didn't think the younger actors "had the gravitas" to take on the responsibility of wearing James Bond's suit.
Today, things are different: the casting crew confirmed they still have the same age and experience criteria as before, and now Cavill fits it perfectly.
The actor is 39, and he's proven himself multiple times both on the big screens and in TV series — there's hardly anyone who hasn't seen him as Superman or Geralt of Rivia by now.
The franchise's audience still roots for him, too: quite unexpectedly, the idea of Cavill taking over Agent 007's role is popular both among British and American fans who rarely agree on anything.
Admittedly, the fact that he's already done quite a few special agent/womanizer roles makes him look like the guy for the job.
With all this support and experience, Henry Cavill seems to have very high odds of becoming the next Bond.
Reportedly, he has even already engaged in talks with the studio about it; however, there's one big obstacle in his way, and it's a really surprising one.
As Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are looking to reinvent James Bond once more, they still want to stick to Agent 007's tradition: the actors chosen for the role were never popular prior to joining the franchise.
This allowed to portray Bond independently of the already-existing stereotypes and associations about them.
This is where Cavill might fall flat. At this point, he's far too famous to fit this narrative, and if the writers choose to continue with the tradition of picking fairly unknown actors, Henry will be out of the race again.
It would be an ironic turn of events: at the beginning of the century, he was too young for the role, and now he'll turn out too well-established for it.
We'll have to wait and see what wins: the massive support of the audience or the classic Bond franchise tradition.
Either way, Henry Cavill's not going to go under the radar any time soon, but it would definitely be nice to see him finally wear the legendary MI16 agent's suit.