The great news is that James Bond movies will be back, as Amazon purchased the rights to the franchise last year (which may not be good news for some). Regardless of what you think about this acquisition, it’s familiar that Amazon has an immense budget and the new Bond movies will likely be incredibly well-made.
How do we know? Denis Villeneuve is slated to direct the next Bond movie. And while the choice of actor for the titular spy is still only speculated, we’re here to deal with other matters. Who could the next Bond villain be? There are actors who’ve expressed the desire to be a Bond villain sometime in their career, and others we may not think of so easily but would fit like a glove. With that, Villeneuve should consider these actors for the next Bond villain.
10
Najwa Nimri
Most Recently Seen In: ‘Breathless’ (2024–)
Image via Netflix
OK, hear me out—Najwa Nimri isn’t exactly a household name… in the English-speaking world. In Spain, Nimri is as close to a superstar as possible. She’s the main bad guy in Money Heist, as the sharp-witted, gun-wielding, pregnant detective that figures out The Professor’s plan; in Locked Up, she’s the queen of prison, a real badass. To throw a little curveball in the mix, Villeneuve could get Nimri to star as La Velada, the KGB agent who wears a black veil and clothing.
Sure, La Velada is actually Soviet, but the nickname is of Spanish origin, which would fit Nimri’s Spanish heritage. La Velada is the main and recurring antagonist in several Young Bond novels written by Steve Cole; if Amazon wants a Bond under 30, the lore could fit the Young Bond narrative, and so this female antagonist would be a great addition. Nimri is a badass and a great actor, and a bit of variety in the cast is always welcome.
- Release Date
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August 30, 2024
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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David Pinillos
- Writers
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Carlos Ruano
9
Stellan Skarsgård
Most Recently Seen In: ‘Andor’ (2022–2025)
Image via Disney+
Stellan Skarsgård has already been a villain in a Villeneuve movie, as the main antagonist of Dune, Baron Harkonnen. So, what’s for him to do another villainous role in a new Villeneuve film? Plenty of Bond fans can see Skarsgård as one of the antagonists, as his often mysterious appearance, tall stature, and great acting skills fit the role of a villain nearly perfectly sometimes. In terms of who Skarsgård could be in the Bond lore, well, he may as well portray Aarne Tudeer, aka Count Konrad von Glöda.
Aarne Tudeer is the main antagonist of the 1983 novel Icebreaker by John Gardner, who, after leaving Finland, assumes the alter ego Konrad von Glöda and aspires to create his own army. According to his book description, he is between 50 and 70, with gray hair and gray eyes, and his assumed identity has some Swedish mixed into it, as “Glöda” means “to glow” in Skarsgård’s native language. A perfect match, no doubt, and Skarsgard would be an excellent addition to the lore.
- Release Date
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2022 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Disney+
8
Joel Edgerton
Most Recently Seen In: ‘Dark Matter’ (2024–)
Joel Edgerton is an underrated actor, but his roles have been varied and creative thus far, so people may have a hard time pinning him as one or the other type of actor. The best kind of actor category he fits into is chameleonic—from a platinum blonde buzzcut to a bushy beard and long hair, Edgerton can appear as anyone, but he can especially play a great villain. In The Gift, a movie he wrote, directed, and starred in, he’s obsessive and dangerous; in The Underground Railroad series, he’s a ruthless slave catcher. Let him into a franchise, and he’ll nail the Bond villain role perfectly.
Edgerton would be a great pick for the role of General Konstantin Nikolaevich Chernov, aka Blackfriar. Blackfriar is the main antagonist in the 1987 John Gardner novel No Deals, Mr. Bond, and he’s described as a six-foot-tall, health-obsessed freak with greenish eyes and a head of thick, graying hair—almost exactly like Edgerton, really. His ability to transform into a character is his best play here, and it would be really cool to see a villain with a name as iconic as Konstantin Chernov, “Blackfriar.”
7
Tadanobu Asano
Most Recently Seen In: ‘Broken Rage’ (2025)
Image via Amazon MGM Studios
Tadanobu Asano is the antagonist in Shōgun, a role for which he received a Golden Globe and the Critics’ Choice Award. His performance as the ruthless Lord Yabushige was often the highlight of the series, and in his first appearance, Yabushige decides to boil a man alive in a massive cauldron. Who could be better for a Bond villain than the guy who can pull off a role like that? Variety in the Bond antagonist ranks is necessary, and so, Asano would make a great Goro Yoshida, who is one of the Bond villains in later novels.
Goro Yoshida is a Japanese ultranationalist terrorist and the leader of the Ryujin-kai yakuza clan, a clan that he entered in his teen years. His first appearance was in the 2001 Raymond Benson novel, Never Dream of Dying, but he became the main antagonist in The Man With the Red Tattoo from 2002. Asano may be a bit younger than the age implied in the novels (Yoshida is 59 in the book), but Yoshida is described otherwise as a man with black hair and a few grays and a red tattoo covering around 80% of his body and depicting a battle between samurai and dragons. Just imagine Asano brandishing a massive tattoo like this in a face-off against Bond—magnetic.
Broken Rage
- Release Date
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September 6, 2024
- Runtime
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62 minutes
Cast
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-
-
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Shido Nakamura
Uncredited
6
Charlize Theron
Most Recently Seen In: ‘The Old Guard 2’ (2025)
Image via Netflix
We know Charlize Theron is an action star—just look at Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde, or even the most recent The Old Guard 2. She is fit, beautiful, a great actor, and a perfect choice for a magnetic Bond villain. Many fans can see her as part of the official Bond lore, so just choosing the perfect role is all it takes. Fortunately, there is one for Theron: the role of South African operative Felicity Willing. As a South African herself, Theron could let her heritage shine through the role beautifully.
Felicity Willing is the main Bond antagonist in Jeffrey Deaver’s 2011 Bond novel, Carte Blanche, and she may have been inspired by Theron herself. Deaver writes Willing as a dark blonde with deep green eyes, and she meets Bond under his assumed alias, Gene Theron, in South Africa. They also have a short affair, but as the head of the International Organization Against Hunger (IOAH), her goals interfere with Bond’s mission, and she becomes the main villain. Theron has that mix of elegance and badassery that would just be ideal for a role like this; whether it’s Felicity Willing or someone else, it would be great to see her in the Bond universe.
5
Dar Salim
Most Recently Seen In: ‘Sons’ (2024)
Image via Les Films du Losange
Danish actor Dar Salim is another deep cut of a choice, but he is a brilliant actor who’s well known in Denmark and even internationally. He starred in Guy Ritchie‘s The Covenant with Jake Gyllenhaal, but he also appeared in The Gentlemen series and Borgen. Though he’s a good guy in all these roles, he could easily go for a switch-up and portray a bad guy in a Bond movie—he’d be perfect for one, actually. A Bond villain that could suit Salim is Tamil Rahani, from John Gardner‘s 1984 novel, Role of Honor, and 1986’s Nobody Lives Forever.
Tamil Rahani is one of the former leaders of SPECTRE in the novels and later an owner of Rahani Electronics. Though Salim is nearly 50 and Rahani is depicted in his mid-30s, Salim still looks youthful enough to appear in a Rahani-like role; his acting experience sure doesn’t have an age limit. Additionally, Rahani is described as a man with a mustache, a criminal mastermind, and incredibly vicious. Give Salim a chance, and Rahani could be one of the franchise’s greatest film antagonists.
Sons
- Release Date
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July 10, 2024
- Runtime
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100 minutes
Cast
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Sidse Babett Knudsen
Eva Hansen
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Sebastian Bull Sarning
Mikkel
-
-
4
Sope Dirisu
Most Recently Seen In: ‘The Gorge’ (2025)
Image via Apple TV+
Before you gasp, Sope Dirisu is a perfect casting choice, so you better gasp out of excitement. Dirisu is a bonafide action star whose skills are waiting to be used in a perfect setting, which might as well be a Bond movie. Dirisu’s role in Gangs of London is one of the most physically impressive performances on TV, and he even starred in Slow Horses as a major antiheroic personality. I think Dirisu would be the perfect Bassam Baradj from the criminal organization BAST—Brotherhood of Anarchy and Secret Terror.
Generally, BAST would be an amazing new criminal organization for the movie franchise, since it has plenty of great, super-cool characters with even cooler codenames. Bassam Baradj is the leader of BAST, and he’s described as a conman, master of disguise, and a sociopath; his true identity is only learned later, and his motivation is kidnapping three of the world’s most famous leaders. Baradj’s codename is “The Viper,” which is, let’s face it, really cool. Baradj is the main antagonist of Gardner’s 1989 novel Win, Lose, or Die, and Dirisu would embody him effortlessly.
- Release Date
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February 28, 2025
- Runtime
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127 Minutes
3
Rebecca Ferguson
Most Recently Seen In: ‘Silo’ (2023–)
Image via Apple TV+
Another actor well-known to Villeneuve is Rebecca Ferguson, who starred in both Dune movies as Lady Jessica, Paul Atreides’ (Timothee Chalamet) mother and a Bene Gesserit. Her action star skills are familiar to all fans of the Mission: Impossible franchise, too, where she starts off as an antagonist but then turns into Ethan Hunt’s ally and love interest. Ferguson has the looks, the elegance, the poise, and the physical skills to embody a brilliantly vicious Bond villain. Out of many she could be, Ferguson could be a great Maria Freudenstein from Ian Fleming‘s short story The Property of a Lady.
Though Maria isn’t the biggest antagonist out there, a story could be developed about her that could make her more of a Bond villain in the film lore. In the story, she’s in her 30s, French, and has dark hair. More than anything, Maria is a dangerous double agent working for the KGB, and a spy within the British Embassy in Paris and then the Foreign Office. Regardless of her book appearance, someone like Ferguson could make Maria one of the most liked and badass Bond villains of the new era.
- Release Date
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May 5, 2023
- Showrunner
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Graham Yost
2
Gary Oldman
Most Recently Seen In: ‘Slow Horses’ (2022–)
Image via Apple TV+
It seems Gary Oldman was already offered a role as a Bond villain, which he declined by saying it didn’t suit his taste. We’ve sat here for a while, wondering what could get Oldman to finally agree to star as a Bond villain, and Villeneuve’s invite might be good motivation—though he’s sick of being a villain. We know Oldman is a magnificent chameleon of an actor and is a mighty great antagonist; just remember him in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Leon the Professional, or even True Romance. He’s different in each of those films, and a memorable bad guy at that.
If they could offer Oldman any role as a Bond villain, he would be perfect as Vladimir Scorpius, just because the name is so cool, but also because he’s a magnetic cult leader who puts people under hypnotic spells. His nickname is Father Valentine, and he’s described as being from Cyprus, having gray hair and black eyes; Scorpius appears in the same-name novel by Gardner. Another great candidate for Oldman is the role of Sir Maxwell Tarn, from Gardner’s 1994 novel SeaFire. Tarn is a half-British, half-German philanthropist and billionaire, but also secretly an arms dealer. Tarn is described as having illusions of grandeur, being in his 50s, and having grey hair and brown eyes. The canvas is ready, and Oldman is the artist—let him paint.
- Release Date
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April 1, 2022
- Network
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Apple TV+
1
Cate Blanchett
Most Recently Seen In: ‘Black Bag’ (2025)
Image via Focus Features
On this list, Cate Blanchett is the only one who’s explicitly expressed a desire to play a Bond villain, and the consensus is that she’d be perfect at it. Having it all—an appealing and hypnotic presence, beauty, brains, and brawn—she’s already made her spycraft known to the world in Black Bag and her villainy in Thor: Ragnarok and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. She’s waiting to be invited, and we know she’ll say yes if she gets an offer like this, because, let’s face it, being a Bond villain is an honor as great as being Bond himself.
Blanchett fits the bill for a newly made-up villain, but also for one of the existing ones in the numerous novels. She could be any KGB-adjacent agent because of her blonde locks and blue eyes, but I bet she’d be an excellent Theda Glass, aka Mrs. Glass. She’s the main antagonist of Charlie Higson‘s 2007 Young Bond novel, Hurricane Gold, and is described as a criminal, intelligence operative, and mercenary. Appearance-wise, she has curly blonde hair, her eyes are pale blue, and she’s been a globetrotting spy and a fighter since her teen years. Theda Glass is such an incredible character that a movie about her alone would be a banger; this way, she could be introduced in Villeneuve’s newest Bond film.
- Release Date
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March 14, 2025
- Director
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Steven Soderbergh
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