Now that we know a 24th James Bond film is coming in two years, most of the hype and talk surrounding the film has shifted to a very important question: who will play the next James Bond villain? We know that Daniel Craig will be back as Bond and that Sam Mendes will be back directing, so with those two major questions answered, focus shifts to filling the role of Bond’s main adversary as a Bond movie is only as strong as it’s bad guy.

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We’ve heard a few names kicked around and most every Bond fan has a dream wish list filled with names. But as we approach that point n time where names start to become serious candidates, we must take a real hard look at possible candidates as the list of actors out there today who would make amazing Bond villains is actually quite long.

Thanks to Sam Mendes bringing an even classier Hollywood edge to the franchise, the door is now open for respectable actors to not feel cheesy stepping into the role of a Bond villain, as Mads Mikkelsen and Javier Bardem have proven that you can be a very serious, award winning actor and still play a devilishly good Bond baddy.

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So let’s take a quick look at, in no particular order, 10 candidates out there who would follow the current trend of excellent Bond villains we’ve been gifted with over the last few years. Christoph Waltz

One name that has risen on the list of Bond fans when it comes to actors coveted as villains, is none other than two time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz. He arrived, much like Fassbender, back in 2009 in Inglorious Basterds and since then he has gone on two win two Oscars and become one of the most well-known actors today.

But the question of whether or not he can play a Bond villain is very valid, as many are skeptical of Waltz acting outside of a world created by Quentin Tarantino.

It seems Waltz was put on this earth to spit out Tarantino’s dialog as no one has done it better since Samuel L. Jackson started doing it back in 1994 with Pulp Fiction. But as talented as he is, Waltz seems to have fallen in line with Jackson where no matter what role he takes, you can’t help but tie that character to his iconic role as Jules Winfield in Pulp Fiction.

The fear is that Waltz wouldn’t be able to operate in a Bond film without having that overt Tarantino feel to everything he says. But Waltz had a decent career before Tarantino came along and he’s put out some excellent films since being “discovered”. So there’s hope to the notion that he’d make a great Bond villain if cast in the role.

Daniel Day-Lewis

Okay, this one doesn’t count because the chances of it every happening are lower than my chances of being cast as a Bond villain. But just imagine the type of Bond villain you’d get from someone as talented as Daniel Day-Lewis, the actor basically everyone acknowledges as the best working actor of this generation.

Day-Lewis is so good that he likely could be able to play a Bond villain in any of the eras and still be amazingly convincing in the role. There is hope that an actor of his elite caliber would be attracted to the Bond franchise as Day-Lewis is in a position where he only has to work with cast and crews that are absolute top of the line.

Mendes and company are trending the franchise in that direction and some would argue it’s there right now. Day-Lewis as a Bond baddy would be so hyped that it might actually end up flying under expectations, but then again Day-Lewis has rarely disappointed in his career and there’s no question he’d turn in the best Bond villain we will ever see.

Tom Hardy

Hardy is a very interesting actor as he’s seemingly had two rises to fame in his career. He’s almost universally known today as Bane from Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, but we tend to forget that his first big break was as the villainous Shinzon in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis.

But since then Hardy has proven himself to be one of the finest working actors today as his second breakthrough role in Bronson showed the world just how seriously he could take a role. He’s been propelled to the Hollywood A-List but he could fit right into a role as a Bond villain.

This one might be tough though as taking on the role of a Bond villain would mean Hardy is playing a villain in his third major franchise film. He’s already been a baddy in Star Trek and Batman and he may not want to play yet another. Then again, Bond exists in it’s own world and playing a good villain, even after becoming an A-List star, can still be career defining.

Colin Firth

When Benedict Cumberbatch’s name comes up in discussions about Bond villains, it’s always mentioned that he looks like he could play a British sophisticate that is pitted against Bond. But while Cumberbatch is a brilliant choice, Colin Firth is an actor who could equally play that same role just as well.

Firth is another British actor who has risen to fame and become a leading man thanks to powerful roles over the years. He’s been around a while and in that time he’s carved out some nice roles for himself which show he has a wide range when it comes to his acting talent.

There’s just something about Firth that looks like it would fit with where the Bond franchise is going. Gone are the days of diabolic schemes where trips to the moon are necessary. Firth could play the type of villain the franchise has been throwing out on screen — a very real villain. If Bond 24 has a political villain, someone inside parliament working against Bond, M and MI6, Firth looks the part already.

Kevin Spacey

One of the biggest changes to the Bond franchise is how much it’s been classed up. Not to say that the older films didn’t have there class or charm, but it’s very clear that director Sam Mendes has taken the franchise back in time to the Sean Connery days and that’s something that seems to be very attractive to top of the line actors like Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes.

One actor that could be attracted to the franchise due to Mendes’ involvement is Kevin Spacey, who is yet another very talented actor with a track history of playing a good villain. He also happens to have a track history with Sam Mendes as well, which means Bond 24 could be a reunion we all want to see happen.

The problem with Spacey is that if he plays a villain, or if we hear he’s playing a villain, our minds go right back to Se7en and The Usual Suspects. As culturally epic as Bond villains are, it’s pretty hard to top John Doe and Kaiser Soze.

Still, Spacey os one of the most talented actors working today and should he be cast as a Bond villain, there is no doubt that he would turn in one of the more classic performances we have seen.

Clive Owen

Once considered for the role of Bond back in 2006, Clive Owen is a name that could end up making a better Bond villain than he would have had he actually been Bond. Owen is an actor who we’ve sen both the good and bad side of as he’s been amazing in some roles but questionable in others.

But there is no doubting his range nor his talent and he could fit into a Bond villain role that pays homage to the Pierce Brosnan days of 007.

He’s an interesting choice to say the least but he’s far from the worst option out there. The only question is does he live up to the other names in consideration by fans for the role of the main villain. Owen doesn’t seem to be in the same league as the others being mentioned but don’t discredit his talent, as playing a Bond villain might be the role he needs to finally universally prove that he’s a seriously talented actor.

Copyright: Paramount Pictures 2013

Benedict Cumberbatch

If Bond fans can’t have Daniel Day-Lewis as a villain, then Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be the next best thing. He in danger of being typecast as a villain, but we can’t help it that he just plays the bad guy so well. His dark turn in Star Trek: Into Darkness proved that he could not only play a bad guy in a major film, but that he’s also a very talented action actor.

This then opens up a wide range of Bond villains Cumberbatch could play as he has the look and tone of a British sophisticate but we also now know that he can kick a whole lot of ass if need be.

He happens to also be wildly talented as an actor and while he wouldn’t be on par with what Day-Lewis could bring to the table, many believe Cumberbatch could sink almost as deeply into the role as Day-Lewis could.

The best part about dreaming of Cumberbatch playing a Bond villain is that it’s a very real possibility.

Mark Strong

Strong is a name on the rise and seems like he could fit right into the role of a Bond villain if asked to. Everything about him is very villainous, which is something that could also work against him.

If there’s one thing Strong is good at, it’s playing the villain. Imagining him in a Bond film in the role of the villain is not a hard thing to do but he tends to play the same type of villain in each movie he is in. From Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to Sherlock Holmes, Strong plays a silent but violent baddy.

That being said, his choice of roles is actually pretty solid as he tends to try and appear in films that end up doing quite well with critics. He’d no doubt be a convincing Bond villain but he may be a bit too generic to be one that stands out in following up Javier Bardem’s role in Skyfall.

Idris Elba

Many believe that Idris Elba would make a great Bond, but since Daniel Craig is in the role for at least two more films, the chances producers looks Elba’s way in the next five years to play Bond are pretty slim. But as we wrote yesterday, Elba belongs in this new Bond universe that has been created and if he can’t play 007, he might as well try to kill him.

Elba is one of the finest British actors working today and taking on the role of a Bond villain would make him and even bigger star than he already is. I tend to think he might make a better ally to Bond but Elba’s talents need to be in a Bond film and being cast as the main villain is something that feels like it could work.

He’s shown a vicious side in some of his work on the BBC series Luther and it’s an attitude and range of skill that would fit perfectly into a Bond villain.

Michael Fassbender

He’s one of the hottest names out there and he happens to also be one of the mot talented as well. Fassbender burst onto the scene in 2009 and has gone on to entertain audiences everywhere while still managing to blow them away with his performances. Bond has taken a turn to the more serious side of things and Fassbender would fit the universe that has been created almost perfectly.

Fassbender oozes charm but he can creep things up quite a bit as well to cancel out his sexual dominance on screen. Where he was charming, commanding and cool in Inglorious Basterds, he was weak willed in Shameand creepy as the rouge android in Prometheus.

He can flip on a dime between any of the roles he’s played and that would make him one of the more unhinged Bond villains we’ve seen recently. But while he can be unhinged, Fassbender can reel it in and hold an audience hostage with his performance, something a Bond villain is supposed to be able to do.

Jean DuJardin

Right now he’s best known from The Artist, which was a cinephiles dream come true in this modern world of cinema. But Jean DuJardin happens to be an extremely talented actor, not that you weren’t thinking that already after his Academy Award winner performance in The Artist.

It would seem hilarious to have the actor who spoofed on James Bond in the OSS series to then turn around and play a Bond villain, but Dujardin has the range to keep up with a Bond film and he has the look of someone who could pull off an international terrorist type of villain.

After winning his Oscar, DuJardin, who typically plays the good guy in some way or another, said he wanted to take on more villainous roles to avoid being typecast. They don’t come bigger or better than Bond villains and DuJardin could fit right in if asked.

Gary Oldman

Few actors working today are as talented as Gary Oldman is, which is one of the reasons he too needs to be involved in this new James Bond universe in some way, shape or form.

Thanks to his role as Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knighttrilogy, we tend to forget how good Oldman was in villain roles. He could return to that should he take on a role as a Bond villain, something he would have been as good at ten years ago as he is today. But Oldman as aged like a fine wine and only gotten better over the years, which may have made him a bit over-qualified to be in a Bond film.

It’s not that he doesn’t need Bond nor is it that he couldn’t play a villain right. Oldman is just so massive that he might feel out of place as a villain in a Bond film. That being said, there are few actors more versed than Oldman in playing awesome villains and his range over the years proves that if called upon, he could turn in one of the better villains, if not the best Bond villain, we’ve ever seen.