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New James Bond Release Proves Henry Cavill Was 20 Years Too Early

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New James Bond Release Proves Henry Cavill Was 20 Years Too Early

Henry Cavill could have been a great James Bond, but he was 20 years too early. From an early point in his career, it felt inevitable Cavill would become a major star. There’s a reason that in...

Maria Nushi
July 8, 2026 10 Mins Read
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Henry Cavill could have been a great James Bond, but he was 20 years too early. From an early point in his career, it felt inevitable Cavill would become a major star. There’s a reason that in the early 2000s, a relatively inexperienced Cavill was already testing out for the title roles in Batman Begins or the canceled Superman: Flyby.

Most famously, Henry Cavill tested for Bond in Casino Royale; in fact, Cavill was director Martin Campbell’s preferred choice. Cavill’s Casino Royale screen test has since leaked, and while it’s easy to see what Campbell saw in the 22-year-old Brit, his reading is a little rough around the edges.

Ultimately, producers opted for Daniel Craig, feeling he was an unconventional yet perfect choice for a darker 007. They also felt audiences would reject a young Bond, and t hat the part needed to be played by somebody in their 30s. Of course, Henry Cavill’s movie CV shows his career soon took off just fine.



















Mission Briefing · Eyes Only
How Well Do You Know James Bond?
“Bond. James Bond.”

🍸MartiniShaken, not stirred

🚗DB5Ejector seat standard

🔧Q BranchNow pay attention

🔫Gun BarrelThe walk

🐙SPECTREWe’ve been expecting you

01

James Bond was created in 1953 by a former British Naval Intelligence officer who borrowed the name from the author of a dusty ornithology book on his desk in Jamaica. He wrote 12 Bond novels and two short story collections before his death in 1964. Name him.




✓ Correct! Ian Fleming. He wrote the first novel, Casino Royale, in 1953 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica, and literally lifted the name “James Bond” from the spine of Birds of the West Indies by the American ornithologist James Bond. Fleming wanted “the dullest name I could find” for his spy. He died of a heart attack in 1964, aged 56, and never saw the franchise become a cultural juggernaut.

✗ Wrong dossier. The answer is Ian Fleming. Le Carré wrote Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the colder, morally grey school of British espionage fiction. Graham Greene wrote The Quiet American and Our Man in Havana. Len Deighton wrote The IPCRESS File. Fleming is Bond — and the name literally came from the spine of Birds of the West Indies on his desk in Jamaica.

02

The EON Productions film series launched in 1962 with Dr. No, shot on a shoestring £1 million budget and directed by Terence Young. Ian Fleming reportedly wanted Cary Grant or David Niven. Instead the producers gambled on a 31-year-old former milkman from Edinburgh. Who was the first screen 007?




✓ Correct! Sean Connery. He’d worked as a milkman, coffin polisher and artist’s model before breaking through in film, and Fleming was initially horrified — he described Connery as an “overgrown stuntman.” After seeing Dr. No, Fleming changed his mind and retroactively gave Bond Scottish ancestry in later novels. Connery did six official EON films (Dr. No through Diamonds Are Forever) plus the unofficial 1983 Never Say Never Again.

✗ Wrong roster. The answer is Sean Connery. Roger Moore took over in 1973’s Live and Let Die. David Niven actually did play Bond — but only in the spoof 1967 Casino Royale, which is outside the EON canon. Timothy Dalton didn’t arrive until 1987. Connery’s 1962 Dr. No is where it all starts, and Fleming went from sceptic to fan within a year.

03

After Connery quit in 1967, the producers cast an unknown Australian male model who was so confident he’d get the role that he talked his way into an audition by telling Cubby Broccoli’s barber and his tailor that he was the new Bond. He only made one film — On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) — and quit. Who was he?




✓ Correct! George Lazenby. He had zero acting experience, talked his way in, got the role, and then walked away on the advice of an agent who told him Bond would be “dead by 1970.” It remains one of the most notorious career decisions in film history — On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is now widely considered one of the best Bond films ever made. Lazenby has been openly regretful about quitting in just about every interview since.

✗ Wrong file. The answer is George Lazenby. Timothy Dalton did two Bond films (The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill) in the late 1980s. Patrick McGoohan was offered Bond twice and turned it down both times, and went on to make The Prisoner instead. Paul McGann has never played Bond. Lazenby is the one-and-done who talked his way in with a borrowed suit and walked out a year later.

04

Bond’s most iconic car — silver birch paint, ejector seat, machine guns behind the headlights, revolving number plates — made its debut in Goldfinger (1964) and has returned in GoldenEye, Casino Royale, Skyfall, Spectre and No Time to Die. What model is it?




✓ Correct! The Aston Martin DB5. First seen in Goldfinger (1964), it’s been the franchise’s signature vehicle for over 60 years and has a near-cameo role in almost every Craig-era film. Aston Martin sold the DB5 from 1963-65 at a price of about £4,175 new. One of the original Goldfinger stunt cars sold at auction in 2019 for $6.4 million — making it one of the most valuable movie cars ever.

✗ Wrong garage. The answer is the Aston Martin DB5 — Goldfinger, 1964. The DBS came later (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Casino Royale). The Lotus Esprit is the submarine car from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). The BMW Z8 is Pierce Brosnan’s one-film-only 007 ride in The World Is Not Enough (1999). The DB5 is the ejector-seat one, and it’s the car that always comes back.

05

Bond’s drink of choice — a vodka martini with a specific preparation instruction he delivers to bartenders across five decades — is three words long. Purists note that shaking actually bruises the gin and over-dilutes the drink, but 007 doesn’t care. Complete the order.




✓ Correct! “Shaken, not stirred.” First delivered by Sean Connery in Goldfinger (1964), and said some 20 times across the film series. Fleming’s novels actually call for a “Vesper” — three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet, shaken over ice until ice-cold, with a thin slice of lemon peel. In Casino Royale (2006), when asked if he wants it shaken or stirred, Craig deadpans: “Do I look like I give a damn?”

✗ Wrong pour. The answer is “Shaken, not stirred.” Connery said it first in Goldfinger (1964) and every Bond since has delivered a version. In Fleming’s Casino Royale novel Bond actually invents the Vesper Martini to the order of “Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet” — shaken until ice cold. The phrase has become one of the most quoted lines in cinema.

06

Starting with GoldenEye (1995), a Dame of the British Empire became the first woman to play Bond’s MI6 boss on screen. She called 007 “a sexist, misogynist dinosaur — a relic of the Cold War” in her debut scene, and served across seven films before Skyfall (2012). Who was she?




✓ Correct! Judi Dench. She played M in seven films from GoldenEye (1995) to Skyfall (2012), spanning the Brosnan and Craig eras — a rare continuity bridge through the soft 1996 reboot. Her death at the end of Skyfall, in Bond’s arms, is still one of the series’ most emotionally earned moments. Ralph Fiennes took over as Mallory/M from Spectre onwards.

✗ Wrong file. The answer is Judi Dench. She played M from GoldenEye (1995) through Skyfall (2012), delivering the “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” line in her very first scene opposite Pierce Brosnan. Helen Mirren has played a Queen and a Prime Minister but never M. Maggie Smith and Emma Thompson are giants of British film, but Dench is 007’s M — and her onscreen death in Skyfall is the emotional climax of the Craig era.

07

Bond title songs have been performed by everyone from Shirley Bassey to Paul McCartney to Chris Cornell. In February 2013 the franchise finally won its first-ever Academy Award for Best Original Song, for the title track of the 23rd film. Which singer won it?




✓ Correct! Adele’s Skyfall won the Oscar at the 2013 ceremony — the first ever Best Original Song win for a Bond theme, ending a half-century wait. She co-wrote it with her longtime producer Paul Epworth. Sam Smith’s “Writing’s on the Wall” (Spectre) and Billie Eilish’s “No Time to Die” also both won Best Original Song Oscars later — making three in ten years after 50 years of shut-outs.

✗ Wrong track. The answer is Adele’s Skyfall — the first Bond theme ever to win the Best Original Song Oscar, in 2013. Sam Smith (Spectre, 2016) and Billie Eilish (No Time to Die, 2021) both later won their own Bond-song Oscars, but Adele was first. Madonna’s “Die Another Day” was actually Razzie-nominated for Worst Original Song — the opposite honour.

08

Daniel Craig — the sixth actor to headline an EON Bond film — ended his 15-year run in 2021 with a 25th instalment directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. In a franchise-shattering finale, 007 was killed off on a Royal Navy missile strike. What was Craig’s final Bond film called?




✓ Correct! No Time to Die (2021). Delayed 18 months by the pandemic, it gave Daniel Craig an unprecedented sendoff — 007 died on the final mission, obliterated by a missile strike on Safin’s nanobot island. Craig’s five-film run (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre, No Time to Die) is the longest-arcing serialised Bond in the franchise’s history. The role has been vacant ever since, as Amazon and EON hash out the next casting.

✗ Wrong title. The answer is No Time to Die (2021). Skyfall was Craig’s 2012 peak (Adele’s theme, Judi Dench’s farewell). Spectre (2015) reintroduced Blofeld. Quantum of Solace (2008) was the second Craig film. No Time to Die is the twenty-fifth EON movie, Craig’s fifth, and the first film in the franchise’s history to outright kill off James Bond.

Mission Debrief · MI6
Your Licence Rating

🎖

/ 8

Double-O status — or still assigned to Q Branch?

Cavill has since made plenty of 007-aping movies like The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but it’s doubtful he will ever officially play the part. Despite producers rejecting the notion of a 20-something Bond, the recent 007 First Light video game proved that, with the right approach, exploring the character’s rookie years offers up some fresh material.

007 First Light Proves That Henry Cavill’s Casino Royale Could Have Worked

First Light opens with Bond (Patrick Gibson) as a Royal Navy aircrewman forced to undertake a dangerous mission on his own, and being recruited by MI6 in the aftermath. Watching Bond slowly morphing into the spy audiences know and love could have been tedious stuff, but the game’s excellent writing and pacing offer up a unique angle on a well-traveled franchise.

While producers (and fans) may have scoffed at the idea of Casino Royale featuring a 20-something Bond, First Light underlines the benefits of that approach. Sure, Cavill wasn’t quite as developed as a performer, but Martin Campbell could have guided him throughout. If anything, Cavill’s inexperience would have mirrored Bond’s own through Casino Royale.

Having a younger 007 would have impacted the story in several key ways, including his romance with Vesper (Eva Green) and spiky relationship with MI6 and M (Judi Dench). It’s a fascinating “what-if,” though it also feels like Daniel Craig was just the better choice at the time. The star reinvented the character for the 21st century, and the next 007 actor sure has a tough act to follow.

The James Bond Movies Previously Rejected A Young Bond Prequel

Henry Cavill in a proper suit in The Man from UNCLE
Henry Cavill in a proper suit in The Man from UNCLE.
Credit: MovieStillsDB

Still, there’s an alternate universe out there that saw Cavill nabbing Casino Royale, and it could have rocked in its own way. It speaks to the untapped star power Cavill possessed at that early point that franchise producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson even considered him.

The duo had some strict rules about what made a Bond movie, including the idea that the spy had to be at least in his 30s. It was decided that nobody wanted to see a bumbling, inexperienced 007 learning the ropes and slowly evolving into the agent audiences paid to see. That’s why, after Roger Moore’s era ended in 1985, the notion of a James Bond prequel was pitched and rejected.

Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have since stepped back from the James Bond franchise, with Amazon taking creative control of the next movie.

This wouldn’t have been Casino Royale, as the franchise didn’t yet have the rights to Fleming’s first Bond adventure. This prequel would have instead been an original story charting the young Bond’s path to becoming a 00 agent, but while this angle was explored, the late producer Albert R. Broccoli felt it weakened the character.

This concept was also pitched before Timothy Dalton was cast as Moore’s replacement. It’s easy to see Broccoli’s perspective, and the reason Casino Royale eventually worked is that while James Bond is an experienced fighter, he’s still figuring out how to be a spy. It’s hard to say how well the film would work with Henry Cavill, but it remains an intriguing thought experiment.

  • No Time to Die Film Poster

    Genres

    Action

    Created by

    Ian Fleming, Albert R. Broccoli

    First Film

    Dr. No

    Latest Film

    No Time to Die

    Upcoming Films

    James Bond 26

    First TV Show

    Fleming: The Man Who Would be Bond

    The James Bond franchise follows the adventures of British secret agent 007 as he combats global threats. With a license to kill, Bond faces off against various villains and criminal organizations, employing high-tech gadgets, espionage, and charm. The series spans multiple films, featuring exotic locations, thrilling action sequences, and memorable characters. Bond’s mission to protect the world and uphold justice remains central, making the franchise an enduring icon in the spy genre.



  • 0168482_poster_w780.jpg


    Casino Royale

    8/10

    Release Date

    November 17, 2006

    Runtime

    144 minutes


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