Who will be the next Bond, really? And more to the point, who gets to be? Riz Ahmed is making a case for himself, not with the usual polished audition tape energy, but something far stranger, more lived-in. The question is whether Bond, as an idea, has finally caught up to someone like him. There is a sly symmetry to the timing. With Bait landing on March 25, Ahmed is stepping into the Bond conversation.

In the series, he literally plays a man auditioning to be 007, turning the industry’s longest-running casting speculation into narrative material, and a James Bond pitch for himself.

Appearing on Subway Takes, hosted by Kareem Rahma, Riz Ahmed did not hedge. 

“I should be the next James Bond,” he said, before launching into a story that sounds too bizarre to fabricate except it is not. 

He claimed he has been approached by British security services, including MI6, multiple times in his life. One encounter, post his early film work in 2005, allegedly involved being pulled into a room, questioned, physically restrained, and then, almost unbelievably, asked if he would consider spying. 

But the pitch goes beyond anecdotes. Ahmed’s version of Bond is almost anti-Bond: stripped of theatricality, grounded in realism. No exaggerated swagger, no over-seasoned introductions, just a quiet, almost conversational “the name’s Bond, James Bond.” He even references the cultural shift toward realism as to why audiences want Tom Cruise actually flying planes rather than simulating it. 

“They wanna see what a secret agent in 2026 would actually look like,”he said of the audience.  

Amazon Prime’s 6-Part Series ‘BAIT’ Joins the Exclusive 100% Club on Rotten Tomatoes

Then comes Bait, which sharpens the argument by turning it inward.

On Prime Video, Bait operates as both satire and confession. Riz Ahmed plays Shah Latif, a struggling actor whose life begins to unravel as he chases the role of James Bond. It is a premise that sounds comedic and often is, but there is an undercurrent of something more personal: ambition curdling into an identity crisis. Guz Khan plays Zulfi, Shah’s friend, and arguably the show’s emotional counterweight. 

Known for Man Like Mobeen, Khan brings that same mix of volatility and deadpan honesty here. Then there is Himesh Patel, appearing as Raj Thakkar, a more industry-adjacent figure, plugged into the ecosystem Shah is trying to break into. Patel, who has moved fluidly between Yesterday, Tenet, and now Ryan Coogler’s The X-Files as his latest, plays Raj with a kind of calibrated realism.

The project’s origins make it even more fascinating. Developed when Barbara Broccoli still oversaw the Bond franchise, Bait received her rare blessing, with one caveat: do not depict her directly. That approval, as Riz Ahmed shared with Men’s Journal, lends the show an almost surreal legitimacy, especially considering how tightly controlled the Bond IP has historically been. 

Ahmed’s own career, stretching from Rogue One to indie roots and back, hovers over Shah like a ghost. The line between actor and character blurs deliberately. Is this satire, therapy, or strategy? Maybe all three, and Riz Ahmed seems to be all equipped to play. 

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What do you think, does Riz Ahmed's take redefine 007, or break it entirely? Share your thoughts in the comments.