Next James Bond odds slashed on rising star who's leapfrogged four contenders in 007 race

Over two and a half years have passed since Daniel Craig exploded out of the 007 film franchise in No Time To Die.

Even before his fifth and final movie in the series was announced, fans have been speculating who will be cast as the next James Bond.

What we know for sure is that the latest incarnation of Ian Fleming's spy will be male and most likely in his thirties, as confirmed in previous interviews by 007 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson.

Considering Craig was that thirty-something "guy from Layer Cake", when cast in Casino Royale, suggests the new Bond will probably be a similar rising star rather than an out-and-out A-lister, even if some of the latter do make the bookies' race.

Whatever the case (and take it all with a pinch of salt), the latest is that Shogun's break-out star Cosmo Jarvis has had his odds slashed.

The 34-year-old Tom Hardy-lookalike entered the bookies' next Bond race at 10-1 but has since leapfrogged over four other stars down to 7-1.

Ladbrokes' Alex Apati said: "As expected, we've seen plenty of interest in Cosmo Jarvis over the last few days, and he's fast becoming a genuine contender to take over from Daniel Craig as 007."

The Shogun star is now head of Sope Dirisu (8-1), Tom Hardy (9-1), Callum Turner (10-1) and Cillian Murphy (10-1).

Meanwhile, still ahead of Jarvis at the bookies are Regé-Jean Page (6-1), James Norton (5-1), Damson Idris (9-2), Henry Cavill (7-2) and the favourite Aaron Taylor-Johnson (15-8).