The sleek, womanizing, genius and stealthy James Bond had been an icon of its era. Once upon a time, it was every man's dream to be somewhat like him. From Sean Connery's suave take to Daniel Craig's more action-intense portrayal, Agent 007 truly has been loved across generations. While the role may have been coveted for some time, the same might no longer hold true today as two of the biggest action stars do not appear interested in it.
While Jason Stathan ranks among some of the most sought-after action stars today, he does not appear interested in playing James Bond. In a report by Cinema Blend, the reason that he is not desperate to play Bond is because it is no longer the only avenue to feature that kind of excitement of intrigue on the big screen. In short, there are already several action movie opportunities beyond it.
When the James Bond franchise debuted in 1962, it was the only kind of its genre at that time. The gauge for action movies was taken to another dimension but Bond specifically launched the secret agent sub-genre that continues to be very popular. While the James Bond franchise was a pioneer, there are already some other spy movies that can give out what it offers such as Mission Impossible and Jason Bourne. Matt Damon himself even believes that Jason Bourne is better than James Bond.
In another report by Cinema Blend, Matt Damon gave out his reasons as to why he thinks one of his most iconic roles is better than James Bond. In comparing both, he says that Bourne has today's values while Bond has those from the 1960s. He also described Daniel Craig's take on James Bond as upgraded and more brought into the present, but misogynistic while Jason Bourne is a serial monogamist and feels empathy and compassion for other people.
Of course, he has an undeniable bias since the Bourne franchise has made wonders for his career. However, he claims that his preference is based on Bourne's characterization being more grounded in the modern world. While he thinks that Bond already seems overly stereotyped and almost cartoonish with its womanizing, whisky drinking and merciless killing without his hair getting messed up, he believes that Bourne appeals more to real life.
