The Best Novelty Wager? Betting On The Next James Bond!

Now that the exuberance of everything that is the Eurovision Song Contest has vanished over the horizon on a pink pride float for another year what can the novelty betting fan choose to speculate upon? Well the answer is obvious, the best novelty wager of the moment is the heated competition to be the next James Bond, but which of the candidates will it be and who should you plump for?

Next James Bond

• Turner @ 8/13
• Hiddleston @ 5/1
• Lewis @ 8/1

There is a temptation when writing about James Bond to settle into a steady rhythm of double entendres till you’re putting down on paper what appears to be the dialogue for the next season of Archer. The Roger Moore years left such a scar on us all. However the days of mindless sexism, bullet proof underpants and a gadget in every pocket are now long gone, and the new gritty Bond that Daniel Craig has so ably played requires slightly more than the ability to raise one eyebrow, and that’s what makes betting on who’ll be next the best novelty wager in town.

For a start you knew this was going to get silly when Gillian Anderson, star of the massively fabulous X-Files who returned in a new series of that very show looking like she’d been abducted by aliens, taken aboard their craft and then had her face carefully stretched backwards as a form of torture (it’s certainly torture looking at her, it’s like you can feel every cut the cosmetic surgeon made) hinted that she wanted to be the next James Bond with a mocked up poster on Twitter. Now if you want an outside bet on the best novelty wager this summer, go for it, but at about 50/1 you’re on a hiding to nowhere.

Of course it’s the long shots like Gillian that makes this the best novelty wager of the year and why you should take advantage of
UK gambling news to join in. The utter silliness of even the concept of some of these people playing Bond is hugely entertaining, so much so you need not take them up on the 33/1 odds that Tim Roth (who’d make a far better Smiley) is getting, you can just sit back, imagine him in the role and laugh yourself hoarse for half and hour. Betfair are giving Michael Fassbender around the same odds, which is daft, but at least he could manage not to look rumpled in the tux in front of the press.

The Best Novelty Wager In Cinema May Not Be Superman

Henry Cavill, who did awfully well as the dapper Napoleon Solo in the recent rather-better-than-we-thought-it-would-be big screen Man From UNCLE Reincarnation, also gets the 33/1 treatment which is a tad harsh given his talents, but then he’s tainted with the whole Superman image which he’ll still be fighting to shift long after this decision is made, so he’s probably not the man to back in the best novelty wager of the moment. Nor is, alas, Idris Elba, who would bring more grit to the role than Craig could ever manage, his work in the series Luther putting many of his peers to shame, but why is he only getting 20/1?

Perhaps because one of the James Bond authors Anthony Horowitz has publicly stated that he was “a bit too rough” and “a bit too street” for the role, comments which instantly caused offense in some quarters, whatever he meant it does mean that one of the best British actors of a generation is probably not going to end up playing one of the most iconic roles in film. It maybe the best novelty wager you can make on the movies, but this isn’t going to be a fairy story so perhaps it will Tom Hardy then who is getting 12/1 from Betfair, maybe you could back him gambling news of his taking the role will arrive in due course.

It is perhaps his staring role in Mad Max Fury Road that has brought his name to the fore, and his recent portrayal of another British icon, one of the Kray twins, in Legend may also mean there’s more than a sniff of a chance for the man that debuted in Black Hawk Down all those years ago however it could be that he’ll be pipped to this particular post by one of the most talented people in the media today, Damian Lewis who thus far hasn’t managed to find a role he couldn’t play and play well. Perhaps he’ll be the next James Bond and the best novelty wager you can make this week.

Damian Lewis For The Win? We Can But Hope……..

Whether in Homeland or Band Of Brothers, in the Forsyte Saga or on Have I Got News For You, Damian Lewis has exuded a talent for which the rest of the acting profession very probably want to see him suffer horribly. Looking at home in every role and situation he has odds at Betfair of just 8/1 on becoming the next James Bond and if there were any justice in the world that would be the best novelty wager you could make if you’ve grown tired of placing bet after bet on sports in the UK. He should, by rights, walk away with the role, he’d be absolutely excellent, but, does he feel it would be right for him?

The pundits aren’t sure and neither are the bookies, which is why Tom Hiddleston is ahead of him on 5/1 having demonstrated all sorts of wonderful on the BBC television series The Night Manager, but is that really enough to have him handed the role of Bond? I personally wouldn’t have thought so, but then I wouldn’t have thought Craig wanted to give it up in the first place, so what do I know? Naturally if you’re going to participate in the best novelty wager to come out of tinsel town since the Depp-Heard divorce odds were mentioned, perhaps you should back the favorite.

Right now that would mean Aiden Turner who is getting 8/13 at Betfair. Having featured in The Hobbit Trilogy and been excellent from the start to finish of Being Human it is perhaps Poldark for which he’ll be most obviously known at the moment, and whilst there’s a shift from Cornish tin miner to 007 there’s every chance he’d make a fabulous Bond. So I suppose if you ARE going to join in and savor the delights of the best novelty wager on offer at present, you should probably bet on him……unless you’re a Damian Lewis fan….and lets face it, who isn’t?