Who Is the Next James Bond? What to Know About Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Aaron Taylor-Johnson may be the new James Bond.
The Sun reported that the British actor got an offer from producers to star as the iconic MI6 spy and that an announcement is imminent.
He will be the first new 007 in 15 years, taking the mantle from Daniel Craig, whose final outing as the character was in No Time to Die in 2021.
Get to know everything about Aaron Taylor-Johnson's career so far.
Related: All About Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Wife and Their Age Gap
Who could be the next James Bond?
Rumor has it that it's Taylor-Johnson, but it hasn't been confirmed.
Related: See How Every James Bond Actor Made the 007 Role Their Own
Who has been offered James Bond role?
Taylor-Johnson has reportedly been offered the role of 007, but the casting hasn't been confirmed just yet. Sources claimed he still needs to sign the dotted line to finalize the contract.
Related: Every James Bond Movie Ever, Ranked
Who does Aaron Taylor-Johnson play in Age of Ultron?
Marvel Studios
Taylor-Johnson played Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Spoiler alert (even though it's been almost a decade, so honestly, this is your problem): It was the first and last time he played the character, as Quicksilver sacrifices his life to take a bullet and save Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) in the film. Anyone familiar with the comic book character knows this would canonically be absolute nonsense, because Quicksilver is faster than bullets.
That level of speed is something that the writers and director got right in X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix and Deadpool 2 with Evan Peters. It's widely believed among Marvel fans that Peters' success and embodiment of the character in those films—when the X-Men brand was still a Fox property—is why the MCU killed off Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver. It would either be too confusing for audiences or just fall flat when compared with Peters' quirky take on the character.
(To be clear, Taylor-Johnson's casting and performance were never the problem! He was fine. It was everything else in the story of Age of Ultron, which is likely why it's also MCU fans' least-favorite Avengers film in the franchise thus far.)
Related: How to Watch All the X-Men Movies In Order
What movies has Aaron Taylor-Johnson been in?
There's a strong chance you've seen Taylor-Johnson in something, because he's been in a lot of movies over the years, including some seriously acclaimed and popular projects, often as a supporting player.
Touchstone Pictures
Taylor-Johnson got started in screen acting in TV and TV movies when he was just 11 years old, with his first major studio film role being Charlie in Shanghai Knights when he was 13.
Sony Pictures
He had a particular breakout moment with Bullet Train in 2022, playing an assassin named Tangerine. He upstaged even Brad Pitt thanks to his smoldering stare and adorable bromance with his character's twin, Lemon, played by the forever criminally underrated Brian Tyree Henry.
Marv Films/Lionsgate Films
One of his earlier breakout roles was as the nerdy, titular self-styled superhero in Kick-Ass in 2010, which he reprised in the 2013 sequel. He also was one of the leads in the 2014 Godzilla and made his MCU debut as Quicksilver the following year.
Related: The Best Superhero Movies of All Time, Ranked
Focus Features
In 2016, Taylor-Johnson starred in the critical darling Nocturnal Animals. His turn as a sociopathic gang leader in the psychological thriller won him a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe.
Universal Pictures
He'll next star in The Fall Guy alongside Ryan Gosling, playing the actor for whom Gosling's character is a stunt double.
Related: Ryan Gosling's Net Worth Revealed
Sony Pictures
After that, he's the title villain in Sony's Kraven the Hunter and as Friedrich Harding in the remake of Nosferatu.
His full filmography includes:
Shanghai Knights (2003)
Dead Cool (2004)
The Thief Lord (2006)
The Illusionist (2006)
Dummy (2008)
Angus, Thongs and the Perfect Snogging (2008)
The Greatest (2009)
Nowhere Boy (2009)
Kick-Ass (2010)
Chatroom (2010)
Albert Nobbs (2010)
Savages (2012)
Anna Karenina (2012)
Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Godzilla (2014)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Nocturnal Animals (2016)
The Wall (2017)
Outlaw King (2018)
A Million Little Pieces (2018)
Tenet (2020)
The King's Man (2021)
Bullet Train (2022)
The Fall Guy (2024)
Kraven the Hunter (2024)
Nosferatu (2024)
Who did Aaron Taylor-Johnson play in 50 Shades?
The answer is nobody! He never appeared in the Fifty Shades franchise despite his wife, Sam Taylor-Johnson, directing the inaugural film in the series.
Related: How Much Dakota Johnson Made for Fifty Shades
Does Aaron Taylor-Johnson have a tattoo?
Taylor-Johnson has a tattoo of his wife Sam's name with a bird on his chest.
What ethnicity is Aaron Taylor-Johnson?
Born and raised in the U.K., Taylor-Johnson is of English-Russian Jewish descent.
Why didn't Aaron Taylor-Johnson play Quicksilver in WandaVision?
This is a little complicated. Beware of spoilers ahead if you're not up to date on your MCU knowledge!
Taylor-Johnson's iteration of Quicksilver died in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Peters' version appears in WandaVision—but nothing in WandaVision was quite as it appeared, which was revealed late in the series.
The short answer to this question is simply that Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver doesn't show up because he's dead. In the show, Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) tells Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), "Necromancy was a non-starter since your real brother's body is on another continent. Not to mention full of holes."
Even Peters' version of Pietro wasn't the real thing: His name in the show is Ralph Boehner (get it?), and he's not actually Quicksilver so much as a manifestation of Wanda's grief manipulated by Agatha to trick the Scarlet Witch.
Related: Marvel Trivia Questions and Answers
Is Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the MCU?
That depends on what you consider to be the MCU. He was in the MCU briefly as Quicksilver and will star as Kraven the Hunter in Sony's Spider-Man live-action universe. While Sony's characters are based on Marvel properties, aside from Tom Holland as Peter Parker (and Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprising their roles of the character in Spider-Man: No Way Home), this is likely to be kept separate from the overarching MCU.
Related: How to Watch MCU Movies In Order of Story
How many Marvel characters has Aaron Taylor-Johnson played?
Taylor-Johnson has played Quicksilver and Kraven the Hunter, totaling two different Marvel characters.
Is Aaron Taylor-Johnson coming back to the MCU?
Probably not: Kraven the Hunter is explicitly a Sony release, and his Quicksilver is dead ... but who knows what the Multi-verse holds?
