And from deep in left field comes a logical-though-incredibly-safe choice: UK publication The Mirror has revealed the news that Homeland star Damian Lewis has been tapped to succeed Daniel Craig in the 52-year-old 007 franchise following Spectre, which Craig has long hinted would be his final outing as the suave, globetrotting, woman-bedding, bad-guy-murdering secret agent. If this is true, Lewis’ regeneration scene would likely be filmed for the Christmas special and his official title would be The Seventh Bond. Or maybe I’m confusing two things.

It should be stated for the record that The Mirror isn’t always the most reliable news source—being something akin to TMZ over in Britain—and no official word has been given by Sony or EON Productions which makes the James Bond films. They even say in the article that Lewis has been given “an unofficial nod,” which doesn’t actually mean anything, though they certainly like to think it does.

Lewis, an English actor who does a flawless American accent, is only three years younger than Craig who, at 47, has said the physical strain from playing James Bond at his age is a major factor in wanting to retire. While Lewis is a perfectly logical choice, and would make him the first ginger to be James Bond (can’t wait for that backlash after Craig took flack for being a blond), but it seems almost too logical. Too safe.

I was in the camp of folks who did want Idris Elba to take the role and shake things up a bit, finally shedding a bit of the stink of some of the franchise’s earlier, more questionably dated choices. To equate things to Doctor Who a second time, casting Lewis after Craig is a bit like going with Capaldi after Smith. I love Capaldi and think he’s doing an excellent job, but that makes him the twelfth white male in the part. Lewis would be the seventh white male in that particular part, that’s been played by two Englishman, an Irishman, a Welshman, an Australian, and, of course, a Scotsman.

As I said, this is all just a rumor, so we’ll see if it ends up being genuine or if this is just another fake-out. Either way, let us know your thoughts on a possible Damian Lewis James Bond casting in the comments below!

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HT: The Mirror
Image: Showtime

Kyle Anderson is the Weekend Editor and a film and TV critic for Nerdist.com. Follow him on Twitter!