Henry Cavill dons the spy avatar yet again in Matthew Vaugh’s Argylle, which sees him star as the titular fictional spy, a product of author Elly Conway’s best-selling novel in the film. Cavill has already played a spy once in the Guy Ritchie-directed The Man from U.N.C.L.E., where he played a British spy during the Cold War.
One of the most sought-after roles for the perfect spy is obviously James Bond. In fact, Cavill was the frontrunner for the role of 007 in 2006 along with Daniel Craig, but lost out to the latter in the end. Since Craig’s exit, Henry Cavill has been a strong contender for the role again. However, with Argylle, Cavill’s chances of being Bond might be threatened.
Did Argylle Squash Henry Cavill’s James Bond Dreams?
For years, Henry Cavill has been a fan cast and has dreamed of playing James Bond in the legendary spy franchise. He fulfilled most of the criteria of Agent 007 as Cavill is a British national and certainly looks the part of the suave and sophisticated Casanova MI6 agent. He almost got the role after the departure of Pierce Brosnan, but lost out to Daniel Craig.
However, since Craig exited from the role in 2021, fans have been petitioning for Henry Cavill to put the suit on again. But, the actor may have shot himself in the leg with his career choices as he has taken on multiple roles that make him a tough candidate for 007. He has starred in other spy franchises such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Mission Impossible: Fallout, which makes him non-exclusive.
The final nail in the coffin might be his role in Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle, which sees him as a suave, sophisticated, and womanizing British agent, albeit with a funky hairstyle and being fully fictional. Cavill told Total Film (via Games Radar) about getting to play Bond in the future due to Argylle,
“It’s a fun character…Whether I’m ruled out of Bond because of this or not is up to Barbara Broccoli and Mr. Wilson.”
The actor has also starred as other iconic characters such as Superman, Sherlock Holmes, and Geralt of Rivia, which will reduce his chances even more as he will not be known just as James Bond.
Henry Cavill’s Argylle Is Said To Be a Franchise
Though Henry Cavill’s Argylle is revealed to be a fake-out in the Matthew Vaughn directorial, the director revealed that the film is the beginning of a franchise focused on Cavill’s spy. Argylle is set to build a universe with tie-in novels, merchandising, and more films on the way, with the sequels focusing more on the spy as a real character.
Vaughn mentioned to Total Films (via Games Radar) that he was planning on a trilogy of films for the franchise as well as a series of novels just like in the film. He mentioned that a film will be based on the first book in the novel series. He said,
“Book one is about: how did Argylle become a spy? That will be the next film. And then Argylle 2 is – I don’t want to give it all away, but there’s the young Argylle, and that becomes Henry because Henry loves the idea of doing a proper Argylle movie as well.”
Henry Cavill also mentioned that he was up for the task and being a part of the larger franchise. While that might make it harder for Cavill to be James Bond, he seemed to be interested in taking the character of Argylle further. He said,
“I mean, it depends on where we go with it, really, as with anything. I have a great relationship with Matthew, so that would be the hard part out of the way. The next bit is just building a story. As long as the story is good, and the character has a place to go, and it fits in with everything else that I’m trying to build and do, then great.”
The film is also said to be part of a larger shared universe, with Vaughn’s Kingsman franchise and another secret spy franchise set to culminate sometime in the future.
