Ben Whishaw Predicts James Bond Exit & Says He Thinks Franchise Will Rebrand With Entirely New Cast

Ben Whishaw starred as Q in three James Bond flicks alongside Daniel Craig, but over the weekend, the British actor said he isn’t expecting to receive a call to star in a fourth. 

“I don’t think I’m going to be in the next one,” Whishaw told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg. “I think they’re going to start all over again, and with a new cast, a completely new cast. I think that’s my hunch, but I don’t know. I have no idea.”

Whishaw added that he would star in another Bond flick if asked but said change could be good for the franchise. 

“I think it might need a new lease of life and a whole new group of people,” he said. “But if they asked me, I would do it, of course.” 

As expected, there’s been much speculation about the future of the Bond franchise following 2021’s No Time To Die. Craig’s Bond died in that film and the name most frequently banded around by British tabloids as the frontrunner to replace Craig is Aaron Taylor-Johnson. 

In March, Taylor-Johnson received a vote of confidence from former Bond actor Pierce Brosnan who said the actor  “has the chops” to take on the role. The former 007 agent co-starred with Taylor-Johnson in 2009’s The Greatest, a film that Brosnan produced.

“One of the first movies we made, one of our earliest movies, was The Greatest – and he was in it,” Brosnan said in an interview on The Ray D’Arcy Show on RTÉ Radio 1. “He was The Greatest in it. It’s a lovely movie with Aaron and Carey Mulligan and Susan Sarandon and myself.”

Brosnan continued: “So yes, I read the news about his possibilities of being a Bond, so I would definitely tip my hat to the fellow.”

If Taylor-Johnson becomes the next Bond, Brosnan advises the actor: “Be bold. Go out there, have a great time. Just love it. Just go for it.”