Batman and Lex Luthor Both Want to Be Bond: Robert Pattinson Screen-Tested for 007, and Nicholas Hoult Is in the Mix Too

The Bond race just got two names bigger, and both of them are already playing DC characters. The Hollywood Reporter reported Friday evening that Robert Pattinson screen-tested for 007 in Denis Villeneuve’s Bond 26, with the test reportedly happening in London the weekend of October 24, the same window as the tests we wrote about last month. THR also reports that Nicholas Hoult has apparently joined the list of contenders. Amazon MGM Studios has not commented.

So the current field, as far as anyone outside the studio can tell: Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor, who were reported as holding test offers in October, plus Pattinson, who tested, plus Hoult, whose exact status is the fuzziest of the five. Nobody has been cast. Every headline you see tonight that says otherwise is a headline about a screen test.

The Pattinson part

This one is a surprise, and not only because Pattinson is forty and mid-franchise. He’s in London for The Batman Part II, Matt Reeves’ sequel, which is how a Bond screen test fits into his calendar at all. He and Villeneuve are also friends and collaborators: Pattinson is in Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three, which is where the connection most people are pointing to comes from. Nobody has said on the record that Villeneuve personally asked him in. The reporting is sourced to multiple unnamed people talking to THR, and that’s the level of certainty to carry around.

It’s also a reversal of a bit Pattinson has been doing for years. Asked about Bond in the past, he’s generally treated it as a joke, including a line, told to Danny Boyle’s amusement, about only doing it if 007 got tortured in the first few scenes. Boyle, who was briefly attached to direct Bond 25, has said publicly that Pattinson should get the part. Someone at Amazon evidently agreed enough to put him in front of a camera.

The Hoult part

Hoult is the stranger inclusion, because nine days ago he was reported out. On October 28, THR said it had heard, reliably, that neither Hoult nor Harris Dickinson was the unnamed fourth actor holding a test offer. Now THR is reporting him as a contender again, with the word “seemingly” doing a lot of work, and the Pop Base post that set social media off tonight says he screen-tested. We can’t square the two reports, and we’re not going to pretend to. What we can say is that Hoult plays Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s Superman, was the runner-up to Pattinson for The Batman in 2019, and is now, if this holds, up against him again for the one role bigger than either of those.

Which is the actual story here. Warner Bros.’ Batman and DC Studios’ Lex Luthor are both in the room for Amazon’s Bond, during a year when both companies have those actors under contract for sequels. Whoever gets 007 is going to have a scheduling conversation that makes the casting announcement look simple.

Where it stands

Amazon MGM took full creative control of the franchise from Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson in early 2025 and has been building the film in order: Amy Pascal and David Heyman producing, Villeneuve directing, Steven Knight writing, Nina Gold casting. The first round of auditions was in August, the shortlist and test offers came together in September, and the tests ran late October into this month. Deadline reported in October that there’s no fixed timeline for a decision but most expect one by the end of the year.

Pierce Brosnan, who weighed in on Tuesday, picked Turner. He also said he’s just an audience member now, which is true of all of us until Amazon says a name.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter (Nov. 6, 2026); TheWrap (Umberto Gonzalez); ScreenRant; World of Reel; THR via Parade (Oct. 28, 2026); Deadline (Oct. 22, 2026).