We published this article in a similar form to the TV broadcast on August 4, 2021.
Henry Cavill is a huge James Bond fan and would love to play the British spy. When Pierce Brosnan’s agent era was coming to an end, he applied to be James Bond – and was rejected for sad reasons. That didn’t lessen his ambition. More than ten years later, with the code name UNCLE, he brought the calling card for his secret service qualities into the cinemas. The spy cracker is on TV today.
Henry Cavill as James Bond cut in Codename: UNCLE
The film’s story also feels a little like it’s straight out of one of Ian Fleming’s Bond novels: The Cold War of the early 1960s suddenly heats up as both CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Cavill) and KGB counterpart Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) learn of an exceptional nuclear situation: An organization made up of ex-Nazis is about to complete a nuclear warhead with the help of scientist Udo Teller (Christian Berkel).
To stop the retirement fascists and free Teller, the two top spies reluctantly shake hands through the Iron Curtain and travel to Italy with Teller’s daughter Gaby (Alicia Vikander) to put an end to the spook.
Codename UNCLE is Henry Cavill’s James Bond application
© Warner Bros.
Very British: Henry Cavill in Codename UNCLE
Codename UNCLE is exciting, funny and stands on its own two feet. Nonetheless, because of the obvious parallels and Cavill’s well-known Bond obsession, it sometimes seems like the Superman actor has changed his mind cobbled together a Bond application here.
After all, the agent action just oozes with the charm of the British Swinging Sixties, with tailor-made suits, nuclear hunts around the world and Mother Russia’s long icy arm.
Cavill presents himself as a well-stirred martini cocktail with manners and punch that otherwise only the original can match. With gangster king Guy Ritchie (Snatch) directing and co-starring Hugh Grant, the result is also so very British that one could easily forget that the film originated in the USA.
© Warner Bros.
Cavill’s opponent: Armie Hammer
The only pity is that Cavill probably pulled the 007 business card out of his sleeve for nothing. Because according to experts he will never take on the role of British MI6 agent.
Henry Cavill will never become James Bond
He still hasn’t given up on his big project: around the original theatrical release of No Time to Die, Henry Cavill brought himself back into the conversation as James Bond.
If Barbara [Bond-Produzentin Barbara Broccoli] and Mike [Co-Produzent Michael G. Wilson] would be interested I would absolutely seize the opportunity. At this point everything is open. Lets see what happens. But yes, I would love to play Bond, it would be very, very exciting.
Theoretically, all doors are still open for this. From the Bond gurus Broccoli and Wilson there was to Cavill no clear no, and the search for a Daniel Craig successor is apparently still ongoing. Bond specialists, however, consider him unsuitable as an applicant – and their arguments are pretty solid.
©20th Century Fox
Who will succeed Daniel Craig?
This is how Dr. Ian Kinane, who covers all aspects of the Bond franchise academically as editor of the International Journal of James Bond Studies, railed against Cavill’s chances (via Express UK).
The argument against Henry Cavill as Bond is paradoxical
His experience with Bond applications for Kinane is a plus, after all, Bond actors Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan had applied for the job years before they took office and were ultimately accepted. Paradoxically, however, this advantage negates Cavill’s success: As an actor he was simply “too large“.
© Warner Bros.
Is Henry Cavill too well known as Superman?
And indeed: Actors have always been chosen as Bond actors, at least because of other roles internationally not too well known are. Sean Connery also had hardly any leading roles before his Bond time. Brosnan and Roger Moore, for example, had distinguished themselves primarily through serial work.
The problem with an applicant’s cinema popularity is that viewers would first associate him with other roles, which one Connection of the face with the extremely iconic Bond role difficult.
Bond isn’t just a film series, it’s a massive enterprise. James Bond must therefore not be one of many roles played by an actor: he has to for a certain period of time Figurehead of a multi-million dollar corporation like the child from the Brandt-Zwieback pack. A prior association with pickles would have hurt pastry sales. And an actor cannot be perceived as both Bond and Superman at the same time.
When is Codename UNCLE with Henry Cavill on TV?
But fans should not grieve: If you would like to marvel at Henry Cavill as a top agent, you should read Mission: Impossible 6 – Fallout – or even Codenamed UNCLE, which airs tonight at 10:55 p.m. on Sat. 1 runs. The film will be repeated on May 29, 2022 at 3:05 p.m.
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How would you like Henry Cavill as James Bond?