Could Henry Cavill's latest movie STOP him from winning James Bond role?

For nearly 20 years, Henry Cavill has been linked with the role of James Bond.

Ahead of Casino Royale in 2006, he was up for the role of 007 but was beaten to it by Daniel Craig, who went on to lead the franchise through its most successful period in terms of box office numbers.

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It was confirmed before No Time to Die that Craig would retire after that movie, which led to plenty of speculation as to who would don the famous tuxedo next.

Numerous names have been linked in addition to Cavill including Idris Elba, James Norton, Damson Idris, Tom Hardy and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is currently the favourite.

In 2024, Cavill will star in Argylle, a new spy thriller directed by Matthew Vaughn of Kingsman fame. It is undoubtedly influenced by Bond, and some have suggested Cavill taking this role means he is no longer in the running to play 007, but the actor himself isn't counting himself out of the running.

"It’s a fun character," he told TotalFilm.

"Whether I’m ruled out of Bond because of this or not is up to Barbara Broccoli and Mr. (Michael G. Wilson," he continued, in reference to the two Bond producers.

Cavill previously played a spy in The Man from U.N.C.L.E and Mission: Impossible - Fallout.

Vaughn even admitted that he moved quickly to cast Cavill as Argylle before the Bond folks made their approach.

"I needed someone who was born to play Bond — which Henry is — and then nick him before Bond did. He plays a larger-than-life action hero with a wink. It's very different from Kingsman," he said during production.

The movie is set in the modern day but is a throwback to 1980s action movies like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, only this time with an espionage element attached.

Argylle trailer