Idris Elba Made A Couldn’t-Resist Nod To Bond In The New ‘Luther’ Film (And No, He Still Won’t Play Bond)

The jury’s still out on who will succeed Daniel Craig as the new James Bond. Maybe, despite calls to make the decades-old franchise more diverse, he’ll be played by another white guy, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. One person who won’t be playing him is Idris Elba, who’s had to endure years and years of people demanding he be made 007, despite him not appearing to be so into the idea. (The same thing’s happening with Theo James.) It’s gotten so bad that a cheeky Bond nod was slipped into Elba’s latest film.

As per Deadline, Luther: The Fallen Sun — which finds Elba returning to the detective character he’s been playing since 2010 — features a part in which our hero pointedly refuses a martini. If you thought that was a dig at 007’s drink of choice, you weren’t far off. In an interview with Radio Times, Luther creator Neil Cross even called it “an extended middle finger and a wink” to the series Elba doesn’t want to be involved with.

Elba spoke about it, too, admitting it wasn’t his idea. “The martini line is a bit cheeky, isn’t it I was like, ‘Neil, are you sure you want to put that in’” he said.

He also once again — for the thousandth time — expressed his thoughts on being Ian Fleming’s formerly problematic spy. “My Bond audition Oh my God, no! I’ve been saying for years, no,” he exclaimed.

Elba also spoke about the differences between Luther, a detective, and James Bond, a spy. “Luther’s equally engaging, equally sexy and great to see visually. But Bond is from a universe where espionage was the way to capture,” he said. “Luther is from the world where you bang on the door, ‘Are you in there I’m coming in.’”

Anyway, maybe give the guy a rest and never even bring up Moonraker in his presence again.