One of the frontrunners with fans doing fantasy casting for the next James Bond is Henry Cavill, and a new deepfake video shows us what the Man of Steel star would have been like in the role. Or, at least, the 1980s version of 007 played by Timothy Dalton. The video, created by Stryder HD on YouTube, uses footage from Dalton’s movies with Cavill’s face placed over Dalton’s. You can check out the video below.
On YouTube, the deepfake video is quickly climbing in views, and it’s not hard to understand why. Henry Cavill has long been one of the most popular picks with fans to play James Bond once Daniel Craig’s run was finished, which just recently happened with the launch of No Time to Die. There are apparently no plans to look into recasting Bond until at least 2022, but that has not stopped fans from volunteering their own favorites, with Cavill in particular trending with thousands of fans on board.
One reason many fans want Henry Cavill to get the part is that he nearly played James Bond already. In fact, Cavill was said to be a finalist for the part when 007 was rebooted for Casino Royale, but it was decided that he was just too young for the incarnation of the character they were looking to portray. Daniel Craig was the one cast, and he has had a tremendously successful run with playing Bond over the course of five movies. Now, Cavill is coincidentally the same age as Craig was when Casino Royale was cast, which would theoretically make him the perfect age for James Bond.
“If [Bond producers] Barbara and Mike are interested in me in any capacity to be a part of their movies, then I will gladly have that discussion with them, and that would be something I’d be very keen to explore further,” Henry Cavill said when asked about the James Bond fantasy casting, per The Movie Dweeb. He was specifically asked if he’d be open to playing a villain, and his answer suggests he’s just as willing to do that as he’d be to play 007 himself.
In any case, Henry Cavill’s casting is far from official, so fans should not exactly get their hopes up just yet. There’s no indication as to how 007 will be portrayed the next time around, and say they happen to want a younger version of the superspy in the next reboot. Wouldn’t that be some bad luck for Cavill? Other popular candidates for the role fans want to see include Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, and Reg&é-Jean Page. Fantasy casting seems to almost never predict what actually happens in real life, so odds are the next James Bond won’t be any of these actors, but you never know.
No Time to Die is the fifth and final James Bond movie to star Daniel Craig in the role. In a video posted from the set after filming was wrapped, Craig gets emotional as he looks back upon his time spent playing the character. He has since admitted that he will feel “bitter” when the next person is announced for the role, regardless of who it is. The Henry Cavill as James Bond deepfake video comes from Stryder HD on YouTube.
Source: movieweb.com