This Bold Spy Thriller Proves We've Had the Perfect James Bond Replacement the Entire Time

Published Sep 24, 2026, 12:06 AM EDT

Billy is a Senior Features Author for Collider. Having written over 300 articles in just over a year, Billy regularly covers the biggest TV shows and films releasing while also analysing some of the most underrated properties that may slip your attention. Having studied for an MA in Screenwriting at UAL in 2023, Billy honed his writing skills and also developed his ability to critique the work of other creative minds. Before that, Billy studied politics at the University of Nottingham, which helped him to bring nuanced and scholarly analysis to the frameworks within which filmmakers and writers have framed their thematic messages.

With the rumors that the next Bond has already been cast (with no word on who it might be), everyone’s got a name that they’re throwing into the hat. Whether it’s Jack Lowden, Callum Turner, or Jacob Elordi — the current frontrunners — we can rest assured that the Bond 26 casting announcement will make as many waves as Daniel Craig’s casting did back in 2005. Although he might not be as young as the other candidates, Peacock’s The Day of the Jackal proves that Eddie Redmayne deserves a spot on the list as a potential underdog for the role. It’s not the classic James Bond, nor the classic Jackal of the book, but Redmayne brings a sleek brutality to the role that still invokes echoes of the 007 agent.

The Day of the Jackal showcases Redmayne’s cerebral and brutal sides, as he murders people with the precision and style of a 007 agent.** The initial assassination of a right-wing German politician displays the Jackal’s precision and lack of remorse for his victims**. He takes his time to set up his weapon, which is a sniper rifle so ingeniously disguised as a suitcase it could literally be Ben Whishaw’s Q himself that built it. The bullet through the German’s head is so bluntly portrayed, smacking through the exit wound and spraying blood on the ground in an instant, yet Redmayne’s Jackal still holds to his code, not killing unnecessarily, as he doesn’t pull the trigger when presented with the opportunity of eliminating the politician’s bodyguard.

Six actors. One role. Your answers point to the Bond who shares your presence, your method, and your particular way of carrying the weight of being the most dangerous person in the room.

You are the original — and you carry that fact without needing to announce it. There is an authority in the way you occupy a room that others spend careers trying to replicate.

You understand something that more serious people miss: that wit is its own form of intelligence, and that making people laugh is not a retreat from danger but a way of mastering it.

You took the role seriously when everyone wanted you to coast — and that refusal to take the easy version of anything is the most defining thing about you.

You are the complete package — and you know it, which is part of what makes you so effective and occasionally so infuriating to the people around you.

You stepped into something enormous with less preparation than anyone around you thought was sufficient — and you delivered something genuine anyway, which is the more impressive achievement.

You stripped everything back and found what was underneath — and what was underneath was harder, more honest, and more human than anyone expected.

Furthermore, Redmayne’s physicality is brilliant in the role, as a master of disguise, being able to both be handsome and yet blend into a crowd when needed. There’s a reason why Redmayne’s performance as the Jackal earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. Throughout nearly every persona he takes on, there is a politeness to the Jackal. He’s a businessman, though his remark that he couldn’t care less why his employees want someone dead displays the coldness hidden beneath the veneer of chivalry.

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