James Bond odds: Scottish star surges to become most likely 007

James Bond fans are desperate to know who will be stepping into the tailored tuxedo of 007. Daniel Craig is expected to have driven his last Aston Martin in 2020’s No Time to Die. But now one star has overtaken other to become the most likely new James Bond.

While he has not yet been seen trying his hand at spying, one star performed admirably as a Bodyguard trying to protect Her Majesty’s government.

Now bookies have slashed odds on Scottish heartthrob Richard Madden being the next James Bond following a surge of bets over the last few days. Coral cut the price to 1-2 from 4-5.

Madden has always been a firm favourite, and Coral has seen him overtaken some of the biggest Hollywood names – as well as his becoming a more likely Bond than any woman.

Coral’s John Hill said: “If this latest gamble is correct, Richard Madden might as well start measuring up his suit as we have been inundated with bets on the Bodyguard star to become the next James Bond.”

The Bodyguard star has topped the betting ahead of Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston, who is sitting at 4-1.

Other names now sitting behind Madden are Idris Elba and James Norton, British megastars both at 6-1, while Irishman Cillian Murphy is also at 6-1.

As well as these, Madden has even triumphed over Tom Hardy, who is now at 7-1, any female, which is now at 12-1 odds.

Australian dynamo Chris Hemsworth sits at 20-1 along with another Brit, Damian Lewis, who is also at 20-1.

Despite this shocking surge, SkyBet has him only sitting at fourth most likely to take on the mantle of James Bond behind some other big names.

According to SkyBet, Tom Hiddleston, James Norton and Michael Fassbender all have better odds at taking on 007, with Outlander star Sam Heughan sitting at 8-1 just below Madden’s 13-2.

William Hill, another bookmaker, sees Richard Madden sitting at third with his odds at 6-1, with only Tom Hiddleston and James Norton above him.

He has overtaken one star who was previously one of the most likely to take on the mantle – Tom Hardy – meaning Madden’s chances are looking better every minute.

James Bond purists will be happy to see how the odds of a female Bond taking over the mantle are getting less appealing – which hopefully means those on the inside know something which has not been made widely available.

Until the new Bond takes over, however, fans do have No Time to Die to look forward to.

The film will see James Bond (played by Daniel Craig, at least for the time being) being forced out of retirement when a new villain (Rami Malek) comes on the scene.

Little has been revealed about what we can expect of the new film, but production images suggest this next instalment will be action-packed.

No Time to Die is out in cinemas on April 3, 2020