James Bond villains: Top 10 choices for the next nemesis to 007

Who could be the next 007? Which director could helm the next Bond movie? Both of these are worthy discussions to have but now it’s time for my personal favorite topic when it comes to Bond… the villains! The villains, for this writer, are always the most interesting part of a Bond movie. From Christopher Lee and Christopher Walken to Mads Mikkelsen and Javier Bardem, the quality of Bond villain is always a good measure of how good the Bond movie is itself. With that in mind, here are 10 actors we think would make terrific Bond villains.

Idris Elba

This one may be a controversial choice given how many people want Elba for Bond but the actor is likely too old for the main role and has already ruled himself out of the running anyway. So how fun would it be to see this twist with Elba as the villain? From an acting point of view, it would certainly be an interesting choice for Elba and would be very satisfying for fans to see Elba in the role of a villain like he was in “Beasts of No Nation.” This could be similar to how Sean Bean, who was a popular Bond pick then, was the villain in the 1995 Pierce Brosnan Bond movie “GoldenEye.”

Gary Oldman

Oldman has a long line of playing villains, including his turns in “The Fifth Element,” “Air Force One,” “True Romance,” “The Book of Eli,” and the titular vampire in Francis Ford Coppola‘s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Oldman may be tired of playing a villain by now but surely he could be tempted to come out of bad guy retirement and feature as the antagonist in a Bond movie? It may be too good of an opportunity to pass up for everyone’s favorite British baddie.

Tony Leung

Bond films are always international so an international bad guy, like there was in “Casino Royale,” “Quantum of Solace,” “Skyfall,” and “Spectre,” makes sense. The Hong Kong actor is such a special performer and is capable of demonstrating so much with so little. He showed how good he was to worldwide audiences in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” in which he played the villain with such presence, poise, quiet danger, and imposing intelligence. Leung would be an excellent choice.

Pedro Pascal

Pascal is the hottest actor around right now. With roles in “The Last of Us” and “The Mandalorian,” Bond producer Barbara Broccoli couldn’t ask for a more fashionable name at the moment. Pascal has the charisma and star power, like Bardem, to pull off a villain and did so in “Wonder Woman: 1984.” He’d fit into the world of 007 effortlessly.

Tilda Swinton

Swinton is one of the most unique actors in the world. She is capable of bringing the weird and wacky in pretty serious movies, as she did in “Snowpiercer,” and can also bring serious levity to weird and wacky movies, too, as she did in “Doctor Strange.” She has such theatrical presence and she’d be a different type of fret than Bond has ever had before.

Emma Thompson

Likewise, Thompson could also fit that bill. The double Oscar winner seems, at first, more of a fit for a future role as M (currently held by Ralph Fiennes) but that would work here. Perhaps she comes from the same bureaucratic world as M does and that could be where her villainy lies. Whatever the case, Thompson is a commanding performer who could take Bond down a peg or two.

Lars Mikkelsen

It’s already in the family with this Danish actor. Lars’ brother Mads played the villain Le Chiffre in “Casino Royale” and fans fell in love with the actor. The same could happen here for Lars but the difference is, Lars already has a large following thanks to his villainous turns in the TV show “Sherlock” and as the voice of Grand Admiral Thrawn in the “Star Wars” animated show “Rebels.” That will only increase now that he’s been unveiled as the live-action version of the character in the upcoming “Ahsoka.” Mikkelsen is primed for this role.

Claes Bang

Another Dracula actor and another Danish actor — there’s something about the Danes, like us Brits, that make such good villains. Bang became the definitive version of Count Dracula in the BBC show “Dracula” — he was insatiable as Dracula and brought such wit, sexiness, and playfulness to the role that you couldn’t help but fall in love with him. Bang starred as another bad guy in Apple TV+’s “Bad Sisters,” where he showed how well he can play nasty and volatile. Bang would be this writer’s number-one choice for a Bond villain.

Cate Blanchett

Blanchett has played villains before — colorful turns in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “Thor: Ragnarok” — so she could certainly bring to life a Bond villain here. The two-time Oscar winner would bring gravitas, drama, and weight to the role and would kick off a new Bond era with something entirely different.

Viola Davis

Davis hasn’t really played an antagonist all that much before but did appear as Amanda Wallace in “The Suicide Squad” and had a certain darkness in “How to Get Away With Murder.” Davis has proven time and time again what a wonderful dramatic actress she is (she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for “Fences”) but she showed her physicality in last year’s “The Woman King.” A Bond villain could be something completely different for Davis personally, which may entice her.

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