The Superman actor battled it out with Daniel Craig in auditions (Picture: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Henry Cavill once came incredibly close to playing James Bond, however, the Superman star now admits he ‘wasn’t ready’ to take on the coveted role.
The Man of Steel star actually got through to the final audition stage, with just him and Daniel Craig in the running to play 007.
Of course, we all know how that ended, as Craig recently bowed out as the Secret Service agent in No Time To Die.
The reason Cavill eventually lost out was that Bond bosses wanted the more experienced Layer Cake actor to play the superspy in 2006’s Casino Royale, but Cavill is adamant producers made the right choice.
He explained: ‘They told me I was close. They told me it was ultimately down to, and this is what I’ve been told, it was just down to me and Daniel [Craig], and I was the younger option.’
Cavill continued on the Happy Sad Confused podcast: ‘They obviously went with Daniel and I think it was an amazing choice to go with Daniel.’
He admits now he ‘wasn’t ready’ to play the secret agent (Picture: Raymond Hall/GC Images)
He went on to insist he may not have done the part of Bond justice, adding: ‘I probably wasn’t ready at the time and I think Daniel did an incredible job over the past movies, so I’m happy they made that choice.’
However, auditioning to play Bond and missing out didn’t do Cavill’s career any harm, as he later landed the role of Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel, which cemented his status as a leading man.
Looking back, the star has no regrets over his failed Bond audition, adding: ‘It was a fun adventure at the time, and definitely gave me a boost to my career. That was the key element of it.’
The 39-year-old went on to play Superman in a series of movies, and recently confirmed his return after five years.
Of course, Craig became an iconic Bond and recently bowed out in No Time To Die (Picture: EON Productions)
Speculation has been rife for years about whether he’d reprise his role as the beloved superhero, with his last stint going back to 2017’s Justice League.
And releasing a video to announce he will be coming back to the DC Extended Universe, Cavill thanked fans for their ‘patience’ and promised them that they would be ‘rewarded.’
‘I wanted to wait until the weekend was over before posting this because I wanted to give you all a chance to watch Black Adam, but now that plenty of you have, I wanted to make it official that I am back as Superman,’ he said.
Cavill delighted fans by announcing his return to Superman (Picture: Allstar/Warner Bros.)
‘The image you see in this post and what you saw in Black Adam are just a very small taste of things to come. There’s a lot to be thankful for and I’ll get to that in time but I wanted to thank you guys most of all, thank you for your support, thank you for your patience. I promise it will be rewarded,’ he concluded.
With Cavill coming back as Superman, this might mean we need to cross him off the list of potential Bond replacements, as his name was thrown into the mix a while back, along with the likes of Idris Elba and Tom Hardy.
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Earlier this month, the odds of Cavill playing the next Bond were slim anyway at 2/1, although we could totally see him on the big screen as everyone’s favourite secret agent.
But despite previously saying he’d love the job on a number of occasions, he’s now booked and busy with his Superman return, so who knows if Cavill’s Bond dreams will ever come true.
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His name has been mentioned as a potential new Bond.