Alexander Skarsgård jokes about playing a “Swedish, nonviolent James Bond”—But is there more to it?

Alexander Skarsgård teases a nonviolent, diplomatic twist on James Bond.

Due to the fact that the property was sold to Amazon by its owners, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, and the fact that producers are grappling with the question of how to reintroduce 007 after the character was killed off in Daniel Craig’s final film, No Time to Die, the future of James Bond is still unknown.

With Alexander Skarsgard’s idea of a Swedish James Bond, a superspy with all of the necessary Bond trappings—tuxedo, license to kill, way with the ladies—but with a distinctly Scandinavian flair, all stakeholders might do worse than examine the possibility of a Swedish James Bond.

The topic was brought up in an interview with The Times of London, in which the actor from Big Little Lies claimed that he had previously served in his country’s national duty. He stated, “I did it because I was 19 years old, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I wanted to be James Bond for 18 months.”

As Skarsgard was being pressed on the possibility of bringing this concept to the big screen, he joined the spirit of the offering by telling the following:

I have the potential to be a James Bond who is Swedish, friendly, diplomatic, and skilled at negotiation. Absolutely no violent acts will take place. It will consist only of boardroom meetings in which individuals attempt to reach a consensus. Everyone is anxious and is making a valiant effort to prevent a disagreement or complications; this trait is characteristic of Swedish culture. I’ll take a break!

In addition to his recent role as a computer mogul in Succession, Skarsgard is set to make his next appearance in Murderbot, an AppleTV+ series that is based on the science fiction novella series Murderbot Diaries written by Martha Wells. Skarsgard first gained widespread recognition for his work in Zoolander. The character that Skarsgard portrays is an android who serves as a security guard for humans who are at work on other worlds. “To lean into comedy—that’s a real blast,” he said in an interview with The Times, after having previously played a series of more serious characters.