Tim Roth
Played menacing characters throughout his career that blossomed since featuring in Tarantino's 'Reservoir Dogs' in 1992. He is an actor that since moving over to the States and featuring in many films portraying an American character; many have mistaken him for this being his nationality. He is in fact British which gives him a good blend of being able to portray a British villain adequately and the same if he was cast as an American villain.
As well as this, he has experience of playing villains in movies such as 'The Incredible Hulk' and 'Planet of the Apes'. This gives him perfect knowledge and expertise that would require him to deliver a great performance and bring life and memorability to the villain that he would be playing. Even in films such as 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Pulp Fiction' he was basically playing characters that weren't per say "villains" but could be considered in their own right, to be versions within Tarantino's grounded films. He brought real depth and general despise to those characters which made them so memorable and beloved still to this very day. Those are the perfect ingredients needed for a Bond villain and it seems that Tim Roth would be an excellent choice to do so in my eyes.
Michael Shannon
Another actor that overwhelms me every time I see him in a performance. More so than Tim Roth, my personal choice of the three would have to Michael Shannon. He has the charisma and sheer flare that are needed to bring life to a Bond villain and something that Javier Bardem did so well in my opinion. I almost see resemblances between the two in the way that they would portray their character within a James Bond film. However, I feel that Michael Shannon could give a much more sinister performance and given the right amount of screen time and depth, could bring a unholy cascade of emotion and deviance to what he has to work with that would make for possibly one of the greatest Bond villains to date.
You only have to look at his performances of characters with depth and layers to them to know how much of a perfect fit he would be. Take 'Take Shelter' for example, there his character makes the wide transition from humble, devoted family man to a psychotic, destroyed human being. In my opinion, he didn't receive the recognition for that role that he well and truly deserved. His nomination for an Academy Award would not have looked out of place had he received one. That isn't even mentioning the countless amount of times that he has in fact played villains over the years. Whether the films have been either memorable or even good, his villainous roles have always delivered. These include work on 'Bad Boys II' and 'Premium Rush' as well as his upcoming role in 'Man of Steel' as General Zod. His menacing look and persona would match what I believe the next director would be looking to replicate from Skyfall and in many other previous Bond films.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
I think that although this would be the most controversial choice being the most unknown of the three, it would definitely come with its advantages. I don't know what it is about foreign Bond villains but something resonates extremely well with me. The simple yet menacing 'Le Chiffre' from Casino Royale is one of my favourites to date. Although it could be argued he was a little underused, Mads Mikkelsen did a phenomenal job of bringing enough tension and life by just the facial expressions he produced let alone his delivery of lines; it made for a truly terrifying villain. This is something that I believe Nikolaj Coster-Waldau would bring to the table. He has a sheer presence whenever I see him on the screen especially in roles such as Jaime Lannister on 'Game of Thrones' and in 'Headhunters' that it just screams future Bond villain for me. He brings many different sides to his characters that make them both adored and hated when giving his 'good' and 'bad' sides.
Some would stress that he isn't a big enough name or that he hasn't put in enough memorable performances to steal the show in a Bond film but I beg to differ. He hasn't received enough credible work in my opinion. Despite the two afore mentioned, none of the other films or programmes he has appeared in have been necessarily well received by both audiences and critics. His performance in 'Mama' however was great yet again. I feel that he was slightly underused in the film and I would have much preferred as well as expected him to feature more than he actually did. The film was undeniably forgettable although which did particularly make his performance stand out more as a result. Nikolaj had a general likability factor about him in that movie and that is something that could be well incorporated into a James Bond villain.
Peter Sarsgaard
Great on screen presence, delivered many solid roles over the years. I do believe that he would be less of a choice over the above three however as his track record isn't the greatest. I feel he's certainly one of these good actors who've made many mistakes and gone down bad routes over the years. His filmography has many poor films including 'Green Lantern' but he always seems to shine a good performance out of whatever he is given and could well do so if given the opportunity with Bond 24.
Tom Hardy
This I feel would be a much more popular choice with audiences and the general public due to his gripping performance in 'The Dark Knight Rises'. Love it or hate it, you can't deny that he brought something oh so special to Nolan's final Batman movie. He could easily draw aspects of his performance from that character and bring them to an unbelievable Bond villain that could test James Bond both physically and mentally. It would certainly be something fresh to have Bond partaking in hand to hand combat and gun fights and being more than outmatched by the raw strength, sheer wit and knowledge that Hardy's character could have.
That isn't even mentioning the many great roles he has carried out over the years including roles in films such as Inception, Lawless, Bronson, Warrior, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Rock N' Rolla and many more! If the wide variety of roles that he has adopted and made his own aren't enough to give him a shot at portraying a villain in Bond 24 then I don't know what is.
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