James Bond fans think Richard Madden gave away major hint that he’s the next 007

Fans are convinced that Richard Madden is the next James Bond, after a recent video of the actor emerged on social media.

This is despite the producers recently revealing that they are focusing on casting a villain before they replace the martini-drinking MI6 spy.

However, this hasn’t stopped Instagram users from thinking that The Bodyguard actor might be the next 007.

Speculation has been non-stop ever since Daniel Craig announced he would be retiring from the role back in 2020.

Three years later and the Broccoli family, who own the rights to the franchise, have yet to announce who will replace the Knives Out star.

Despite this, many people have been left guessing who might gain their licence to kill with actors like Idris Elba, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Henry Cavill all becoming frontrunners for the iconic role.

In fact, Cavill even encouraged fan speculation by appearing in an advert alongside an Aston Martin, Bond’s favourite car, while joking about the role.

Sadly though, there has yet to be an announcement about who will become the next 007 and fans continue to guess.

Prime Video

However, some eagle-eyed Instagram users think they’ve cracked the code, after seeing Stanley Tucci’s latest post on the social media platform.

In the short clip, he and his co-star Madden are sipping martinis as they continue their global press tour for Citadel, a new Amazon spy series.

As they made a toast and silently sipped their drinks, both stars struggled to keep a straight face - giggling as they looked towards the camera.

Though neither actor made any references to the drinks being shaken-not-stirred, the video has left fans wondering whether Madden was hinting that he’d been cast as the secret agent.

When asked how his drink was the Scottish star simply said ‘delicious’, adding ‘join us next week when we have some dialogue’ which fans assumed was him teasing an announcement.

His new role in the spy series would certainly give him plenty of chance to train for an upcoming role as Bond.

Prime Video

Fans agreed and immediately began to congratulate Madden in the comments, with one excitedly telling the Marvel actor: “To the new Bond!! Congrats!!”

While one shared their surprise as they wrote: “Wait...what! 007.”

Another fan even made reference to the iconic secret agent tipple, writing: “I don’t what drinks look like, but if that’s Richard Madden drinking a Martini that’s been shaken, not stirred… imma hit the roof with excitement.”

The actor has yet to confirm anything, so for now the identity of the new Bond still remains a closely guarded secret.