Cillian Murphy set to play key role in new James Bond instalment?

Cillian Murphy emerged as the top contender for a pivotal role in the next James Bond instalment.

Murphy, who is known for his ruthless role as Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders, is tipped to be the next James Bond villain.

Reported by DailyMail, a Bookmaker expert Jake Ashton said, "The villain role in Bond movies is just as iconic as Bond himself."

"With Cillian Murphy at the height of his powers and trusted by major directors, he's a natural favourite," he added.

Also betted for the part are Paul Giamatti, David Dastmalchian , and unlikely contender Zendaya.

Despite usually playing positive roles in her other roles, the Spiderman star previously told Elle that she was ready to dive in her villainous era.

"I would love to play a villain of sorts," the 28-year-old said.

"Tap into the evil, supervillain vibes. Whatever that manifests in, I don't think necessarily in a superhero sense, I just mean in like an emotional sense," she added.

In No Time To Die saw Rami Malek stars as its lead antagonist Lyutsifer Safin, a terrorist chief and scientist driven by a desire to dismantle the criminal group SPECTRE.

Earlier in April, it was announced that Amy Pascal and David Heyman were in London for early development of next James Bond film. However, no further update has been announced yet.