chris-r78 — 10 years ago(November 24, 2015 11:58 AM)

There's been a lot of kerfuffle over the potential of having a black Bond. Personally, I have no issues with it at all, so long as the casting is based upon the strength of the individual rather than simply having a black Bond for the sake of seeming progressive and enlightened.
Somebody in Hollywood (can't remember who) took a lot of flack for saying that Idris Elba was too "street" to play Bond. While he may or may not be right, there's nothing remotely racist about that comment. Street equates to gritty, and gritty spans across every ethnicity. You could make the same point about, say, Dennis Franz being too "street" and you wouldn't be making a race based comment. It's actually more racist to hear the criticism "he's too street" and automatically think that's a reference to Elba's ethnicity.
To me, Elba has a charisma problem that would make him a poor choice for Bond. I don't see him having the requisite magnetism.
Ejiofor, on the other hand, could be perfect for the role, and a nice contrast to Craig (whom I think is the best Bond to date). Ejiofor has this smoothness about him. You could buy him as the kind of guy who was brought up in places like Eton and Oxford.
I hope they go with somebody who's a little less obvious when they recast the part. If they have to go with a frontrunner, I'd like Fassbender. Darkhorse candidates I would like to see include Ejiofor, Tom Hiddleston, or Nicholas Hoult.