Craig has confirmed that the upcoming 25th film in the 007 series will be his last, leaving the door open for another actor to step into the role.
Whilst the likes of James Norton and Tom Hardy have often been considered the favourites, others have argued that casting directors should aim to move away from casting only white males.
He told Variety: “There’s no such thing as a ‘black Bond’. Are we interested in having a Bond character other than being a male?
“Could be a woman – could be a black woman, could be a white woman.
“But I think, that character, everybody would like to see it have… do something different with it, why not?”
Elba has long been in the frame himself but has often dismissed the chatter.
He told the New York Times: “I think it’s more about, we just want to have a black guy play James Bond rather than Idris Elba, the actor, play James Bond.
“That’s the part that I’m like, ‘Ugh, come on’.”
Hardy is currently the favourite to replace Craig, with odds of 2/1 with Betfair.
Norton follows on 5/2, followed by Jack Huston on 6/1 and Aidan Turner on 7/1.
James Bond 25 is in pre-production and is due out in late 2019, as things stand.