British actor Tom Hiddleston poses for pictures as he arrives on the red carpet for the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London on February 8, 2015. (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Among the British press and movie blogosphere, it often seems as if more attention is paid to who will be the next James Bond than the current Bond films. Most of the advance buzz surrounding the most recent Bond movie, Spectre, concerned whether or not it was Daniel Craig’s final time playing 007. (Maybe there was a prevailing sense that the film wouldn’t be any good, which was an astute presumption.)

Craig has been rather public about wanting to move on from Bond, though he is signed for one more Bond film. But his crankiness about playing Bond and Spectre’s chilly critical reception may have led producers to look for the next actor to fill 007’s tuxedo. According to one report, a new license to kill has been assigned.

BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH’s Phil Nobile reports that Tom Hiddleston is in “advanced talks” to play James Bond. This is based on information from sources close to the actor. Though BMD posts plenty of articles about story developments for big movies, casting rumors aren’t often their trade. That presumably lends further credence to the story. Nobile cautions, however, that no official offer has been made, so developments could change.

But Hiddleston has said he wants the role, and EON Productions (which is in charge of the Bond films) seems to want him, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that this is apparently happening. Perhaps it’s also not a coincidence that this news is getting out after a week when Gillian Anderson responded to online fan casting by saying she’d love to play Bond. (Well yeah, why wouldn’t she?) Past speculation has swirled around Idris Elba, Damian Lewis and Tom Hardy for the role as well.

Hiddleston’s recent turn as a spy in The Night Manager, a BBC miniseries that just finished its U.S. run on AMC, was arguably an audition to play a secret agent, though his role as Jonathan Pine wasn’t quite the globe-trotting, Martini-guzzling action hero typically associated with Bond. (Though Pine did do a fair share of womanizing.) But if you watched Hiddleston recently in High-Rise, which is available on demand and is still in smaller theatrical release throughout the country, you might have an easier time picturing him as a debonair, studly social animal who’s slightly unhinged.

Of course, fans of Hiddleston’s performance as Loki in Marvel’s Thor and Avengers films know that he can portray a range of emotions, as well as hold his own in action scenes.

What makes Hiddleston an intriguing choice for Bond is that he’s likely to play a much different version of the character than Craig. Naturally, how Bond is written will have something to do with that. But Craig’s Bond is more of a brawler with a rougher edge than we’ve seen previously (maybe not since Sean Connery). He brought a physicality to the role that’s made his four Bond films stand apart from the rather forgettable Pierce Brosnan series of movies.

Would Hiddleston make similar choices or bring a different angle to 007, making him more of a charmer who likes the finer things in life, as Roger Moore did? It would be fun to find out. That is, unless all of this a ploy by producers to convince Craig to play Bond at least one more time…

[BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH]

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.