The King's Man director Matthew Vaughn wants to see Henry Cavill as the next James Bond. Based on the comic book series of the same name by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, Vaughn directed the first two installments in the Kingsman franchise, which were subtitled The Secret Service and The Golden Circle and released in 2014 and 2017, respectively. Now, Vaughn is gearing up for the release of The King's Man on December 22, a prequel which explores the origins of the fictional secret service organization.
To go with Kingsman, Vaughn is also preparing to launch another spy franchise with Argyle and has tapped Henry Cavill to lead the movie's all-star cast. Based on an upcoming novel by Ellie Conway that has drawn comparisons to Ian Fleming's James Bond series, Argyle follows a world-class spy suffering from amnesia who is tricked into believing he is a best-selling novelist. The film, which is intended to be the first in a trilogy, was acquired by Apple in a $200 million deal. Its cast also includes Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, and Rob Delaney.
During a group interview attended by Screen Rant, Vaughn was asked if he would ever be interested in making a James Bond film, considering his extensive experience with the spy genre. While he doesn't think Eon Productions' long-running franchise would ever be interested in him, Vaughn does know who he'd cast as 007. After working with him on Argyle, Vaughn is convinced that Cavill was "born to play Bond." Read what the director had to say below:
Henry Cavill, that man was born to play Bond. When you see how he is in this film, I was just like, wow, this guy is everything you'd imagine Bond to have been, or be.
It's well known that Cavill was one of the finalists when they were recasting Bond for 2006's Casino Royale. Director Martin Campbell eventually passed on him, because he thought the 23-year-old actor looked too young for the role. Now that Daniel Craig's tenure as the iconic super-spy is over, and Cavill has over a decade of high-profile roles under his belt, perhaps he will emerge as the frontrunner when Bond producers begin the recasting discussion sometime in 2022.
Securing an endorsement from The King's Man director certainly won't hurt Cavill's chances, even though Vaughn says the Bond people don't like him. While it was his age that was his downfall last time around, Cavill may be too famous to play James Bond now, considering his various high-profile roles as Superman, Geralt of Rivia, and Sherlock Holmes. There is also an expectation the 007 franchise will go in a different direction and cast a woman or person of color to increase diversity. Unfortunately, Cavill's role in Argyle might be the closest he ever gets to portraying Bond.
