Idris Elba recently spoke about portraying James Bond on the big screen following Daniel Craig’s departure from the famed movie franchise. On Tuesday (Feb. 14), the 50-year-old actor addressed taking on the 007 role while attending the World Government Summit in Dubai and shed light on whether or not the relentless discourse about him playing Bond will come to fruition. Elba first touched on his forthcoming motion picture centered on his television series “Luther“: “It’s very dark.”

“The Wire” actor continued: “We’ve been working on the television show for about 10 years and so the natural ambition is to take it to the big screen, and so we’re here with the first movie.” Chiefly, Idris Elba capped his answer by asserting that taking on the James Bond role is out of the question for him: “You know, a lot of people talk about another character that begins with ‘J’ and ends with ‘B,’ but I’m not going to be that guy. “I’m going to be John Luther. That’s who I am.”

Idris Elba‘s remarks arrive following news that Aaron Taylor-Johnson is presently the strongest candidate to play James Bond. Back in November 2022, it was reported that Taylor-Johnson had wowed producers after nailing a ‘secret audition’ they held after Daniel Craig bowed out of the the franchise in 2021. In January 2023, it was confirmed that the 32-year-old actor met up with Barbara Broccoli (who controls the James Bond movie franchise with Michael G. Wilson) and that their sit down went “very well”.

“Luther: The Fallen Sun” is an impending Netflix Original film being co-produced with BBC Films. In November 2022, Netflix confirmed that the movie will drop in 2023 and the release date is currently scheduled for March 10th, 2023. Idris Elba compared Luther to James Bond in the past, saying: ”It’s not a competition, but I reference Bond as a template for the type of film we’re going for. John is a leading character in a film that he’s the hero of. That’s the comparison I’m making. Some films do them well – Bond is one of them. But my ambition for it is to have that sort of scale, that reverence. I want people to be like: ‘Ooh! Luther, the first film? Wicked.’ And to continue that. And then maybe later down the line, when I’m too old, someone else will step in to play John.”

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