Tom Hardy just gave a pretty big hint that he wants to take on role of James Bond

While Daniel Craig ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ over a possible return as Bond for an extortionate amount of money, there are others circling waiting to get their hands on the franchise. 

Leading the pack is Tom Hardy, who Paddy Power have put odds at 8/1 to play the next 007. 

Hardy has stayed relatively schtum about the possibility of taking on the role, although is confident he would “smash it out the park” if he did get the chance. 

However, in an interview with The Daily Beast, the Peaky Blinders star threw some fuel on the rumour fire. 

When the topic of Dark Knight Rises pal Christopher Nolan’s dream to direct a Bond film came up, Hardy got very excited:

“Oh, wow, Chris would be amazing! Wow, that would be cool. That would be so cool.

“I wonder what the next installment of that franchise would become, and I think when you mention someone like Christopher Nolan, that’s a very powerful figure to bring into that world who could bring something new and create something profound - again.”

Would he take on the role?

“You know, there’s a saying amongst us in the fraternity of acting, and in the fellowship of my peer group, that if you talk about it you’re automatically out of the race. So I can’t possibly comment on that one! If I mention it, it’s gone.”

Which means we could have a moody, broody but perfectly badass Bond coming our way.

Bond is expected to return for a 25^th film in 2018.