Henry Cavill has long been a favourite to play the next James Bond ever since being runner-up to Daniel Craig for Casino Royale.

Considered too young at the time, he went on to be cast as Superman and is now over 40.

Hollywood fame for another IP role plus entering middle age basically meant he’d now never be 007 despite fan enthusiasm.

Well, that was the case under the Broccolis at EON Productions, who have now relinquished creative control of the Bond franchise to Amazon MGM Studios.

When the company’s boss, Jeff Bezos, asked fans on social media who they’d like to take up the Licence to Kill next, the overwhelming response from fans was Cavill.

Given that Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore were all older than Cavill was now when they were cast as 007, surely it means he’s more likely than ever to be cast? In addition, the star has been very open in recent years about his interest in playing Bond. And now he’s finally spoken out on the matter for the first time since the Amazon bombshell news.

Cavill was spotted by ITV at the Cheltenham Races over the weekend, where he was asked point-blank about Bond. The outlet said: “Superman today, but who knows, maybe a licence to thrill in the future? Time will tell?” The actor replied very coyly: “Time indeed will tell. Let’s watch this space.” Well, that certainly wasn’t a no! Perhaps some talks with Amazon are already in full swing?