Next James Bond odds: new actor in race against Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Henry Cavill and other stars to play 007

The latest shuffling of the favourite actors to play the next James Bond has taken place, and the bookies have thrown up a new name. 

Daniel Craig took on the role in 2006, appearing in five films - Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre, and No Time to Die. He did a spectacular job and his tranche of movies grossed almost $4 billion worldwide.

So it’s not surprising that casting Craig’s replacement seems to be taking a while - producers have a massive film legacy to protect, and they won’t want to end up with another George Lazenby.

Who are the favourites to play James Bond?

With Daniel Craig’s replacement as 007 still not confirmed, new names move up and down in the odds to take the role every month. Earlier this month Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy’s name shot up the list after his success at the Bafta nominations.

Today, a new name joins the list of favourites, and he’s an actor in the midst of what looks to be a very successful film and TV career.

Masters of the Air star Barry Keoghan is now up there with names like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Henry Cavill, and Damson Idris as a favourite to play James Bond. Bookmaker Ladbrokes has been given the star odds of 11/1 or 8.3%.

However, even with these new odds, which put him on the Bond radar for the first time, Keoghan still faces an uphill battle if he wants to bag the role. The current frontrunner for Bond is Kick-Ass star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with odds of 15/8.

Henry Cavill is on 7/2, followed by James Norton (4/1), Damson Idris (9/2), Rege-Jean Page (6/1), Sope Dirisu (8/1), and Tom Hardy (9/1). Keoughan therefore takes position as eighth favourite, though Ladbrokes has him way ahead of Cillian Murphy, whose odds have dropped to 20/1, whilst an extreme longshot is Ryan Gosling, being offered at odds of 5,000/1.

Who is Barry Keoghan?

Keoghan, 31, is an Irish actor currently starring as Lt. Curtis Biddick, an American bomber pilot in Apple TV WW2 drama series Masters of the Air. The actor’s breakout roles were in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk and Yorgos Lanthimos's The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

In 2023 he got his first Oscar nomination for his supporting role as Dominic Kearney in dark comedy The Banshees of Inisherin, and won a Bafta for the same part.

He shocked audiences with his disturbing performance as Oliver in the 2023 Amazon Prime psychological thriller Saltburn, and he played a formidable Irish gangster in the final season of Top Boy on Netflix.

Keoghan has roles in upcoming drama films Bird and Bring Them Down, and an untitled horror project set to star The Weeknd and Jenna Ortega.