Bond in Sussex: New AI-generated artwork reveals what the next James Bond could look like

The image, created by Hearts Land, was a result of inputting the casting guidelines as a prompt into an AI art generator as follows: ‘British actor under 40 years old and over 5' 10 in height, to play the next James Bond’.

And despite not including any reference to any current actors or James Bond frontrunners, the image bears a strikingly close resemblance to current favourite, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

Both West and East Sussex have welcomed Bond… James, Bond during his six decades of international sleuthing, skulduggery and espionage. The world has been shaken (and probably also stirred) as each new film has come out. And Sussex with it. The camera crews came to Amberley Museum for the filming of A View To A Kill, Roger Moore's seventh and final outing as the famous spy (1985).

The image shows a James Bond with the same skin colour, eye colour and hair colour as Taylor-Johnson, and even bears a similar facial expression as the High Wycombe-born star.

At 32 years old and 5’ 11 in height, Aaron is a perfect fit - and is currently having a resurgence in popularity on social media, as fans praised his images from Calvin Klein’s Spring 2023 campaign, which he starred in alongside Michael B. Jordan and Kendall Jenner.

And whilst the image is by no means conclusive evidence that Aaron-Taylor Johnson is the next James Bond, it’s a good sign that even AI is able to imagine him stepping in the role, with speculation still rife after Daniel Craig stepped down from the role two years ago.

The argument could be made for other James Bond favourites, too, as the AI image bears some passing resemblance to James Norton, Sam Hueghan and Michael Fassbender.

As well as imagining what the next James Bond will look like, Hearts Land also asked the AI generator to visualise the next Bond girl, based on the following prompt: ‘Mid-twenties British actress at 5’ 7 in height, to play the next Bond girl’.

There are no official guidelines for Bond’s love interest, but previous casting choices reveal she’s typically aged between 20 and 30, and has yet to be taller than 007 himself.

Speaking on the images, Hearts Land said: “One of the most exciting applications of AI at the moment is to imagine what producers and casting directors are imagining or looking for when casting popular characters - particularly for shows where it’s really all up in the air.

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“It’s fascinating that AI is able to create a realistic image of someone based on such little information - and it’s particularly exciting that this bears such a close resemblance to frontrunner Aaron Taylor-Johnson. It’ll be amazing if he actually lands the role now!”