Lea Seydoux, who played Madeleine Swann in both Spectre and No Time to Die, has thrown fuel onto the fire amid speculation she may well return in the future Bond 26, despite the obvious news that Bond will be played by a new actor.

Whilst discussing her potential return, she seemed self-aware enough to realize it’s not going to happen, describing it as ‘fake news’ herself.

Lea Seydoux To Return?

Lea Seydoux in Spectre.
Spoilers for No Time to Die ahead.

As already said, Lea Seydoux played Madeleine Swann in Spectre and No Time to Die, first starting as a modern Bond girl love interest, before appearing in the more recent Bond outing as the mother of Bond’s child, albeit unknown to Bond. She was asked about any potential involvement in the future Bond 26 recently, and had this to say:

“After all I’m not dead. It was James who died, not Madeleine. So, who knows? Maybe I’ll be back. This is like fake news, right?

But if we’re serious for a moment, Madeleine drives away with her daughter right at the end because James has saved them. There’ll be a new Bond because Daniel’s Bond died but who’s to say that Madeleine won’t be back?”

Based on previous experience, it’s unlikely she’ll be returning to play Madeleine again, with the usual procedure upon a Bond recasting to start fresh, with fresh stories, new Bond girls, and new villains, with the usual exceptions of Q, Moneypenny, and M.

Judi Dench herself played M over multiple different incarnations of Bond, including Daniel Craig’s version, but a love interest/Bond girl appearing over multiple iterations? That hasn’t been done yet.

Of course, if the producers were to go the route of having the new Bond simply taking up the codename in the current universe, that would allow any number of characters to return, but it’s more likely the producers will want a fresh start for the new star.

Henry Cavill is desperate to be the next Bond.
uture Bond

Idris Elba to be the next Bond?
Since the ending of No Time to Die, speculation has been rife as to who will be filling Daniel Craig’s shoes, with names from Idris Elba to Henry Cavill and even Tom Holland being bandied about.

Before No Time to Die was announced and filmed, Idris Elba was one actor who was being touted as potentially taking over the franchise from Craig. Thanks to No Time to Die, that talk was stifled for a while, but it is back in full force now.

Just as it was when Craig took over from Pierce Brosnan, it’s anyone’s guess as to who is taking over, but if last time taught us anything, it may not be one of the names being discussed now, as Daniel Craig was relatively unknown and not publicly in the running for the role at the time of his announcement. Who would you like to see as the next Bond?