Idris Elba may have pretty much taken himself out of contention as the next James Bond, but he may reconsider after gaining some Hollywood backing for the role. The hunt for the new James Bond is still to really get underway, and despite dozens of rumors, “castings” and debunkings there is still a way to go before Daniel Craig’s successor is decided on. With that in mind, multi-Oscar winner Tom Hanks believes that Elba is really the man with a licence to kill.

Hanks is currently promoting his new book, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture – a fiction novel rather than an autobiography of his career – and while speaking with the BBC, the prolific actor added his view to the much discussed subject of who should take over the role of James Bond in his next run of movies. In simple terms, he said:

“Understand this, James Bond has a licence to kill. I would issue that licence to Idris Elba just based on the work that I’ve seen him do.”

Idris Elba has never been too far from being the bookies favorite to take over the role of Bond, and having made a success of roles such as Luther, he had proven his action hero credentials time and time again. However, the actor himself is dubious about taking on the role, and previously took himself out of the running. When discussing his recent Luther movie, Elba said:

“It’s very dark. We’ve been working on the television show for about 10 years and so the natural ambition is to take it to the big screen, and so we’re here with the first movie. You know, a lot of people talk about another character that begins with ‘J’ and ends with ‘B,’ but I’m not going to be that guy. I’m going to be John Luther. That’s who I am.”

Related: Idris Elba Puts James Bond Rumors to Rest With Martini Joke in Luther: The Fallen Sun

Idris Elba Has Denied All Rumors of His Imminent Casting as James Bond.

Idris Elba in Luther the Fallen Sun
Netflix

While there have been many actors said to be “in talks” to be the new James Bond, Elba has constantly distanced himself from such rumors. In another recent interview, the actor said:

"I love the Bond franchise, I'm very close to the producers. We were all kind of laughing about the rumors because they are just that. I can't speak for [the producers], but from my perspective, there's never been any sort of truth to any of it. It's a compliment, and it's an honor — but it's not a truth."

It has recently been suggested that the new James Bond star will be someone in their 30s, but like all other rumors about the latest star to take on the coveted role, there has been no confirmation of this one way or the other. In the main, no matter how much fans want to know who will be taking on the role of the super spy, they are simply going to have to wait a little longer until the truth is revealed and the next generation of Ian Flemming’s secret agent is enlisted.