Ben Whishaw hints he has been dropped from James Bond

Ben Whishaw doesn't expect to reprise his role as Q in the James Bond film franchise.

The 43-year-old actor made his debut as the spy gadget inventor in the 2012 film Skyfall and returned for 2015's Spectre and 2021's No Time to Die.

Bond fans will already know that lead actor Daniel Craig bowed out of the franchise following the 2021 outing, and now Whishaw has hinted all characters will be recast for the next instalment.

He told BBC One's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, "I don't think I'm going to be in the next one. I think they're going to start all over again, and with a new cast, a completely new cast, I think that's my hunch, but I don't know. I have no idea."

The actor added, however, that he would jump at the chance to play the head of MI6's research and development division again.

He gushed, "I'd do it if they asked me. But I... think it might need a kind of new lease of life and a whole new group of people. I think it could be good for it, but if they asked me, I would do it, of course."

A new James Bond film is tipped to begin filming in 2026 - however no script, director, or even main actor has been confirmed as yet.