All the evidence that suggests Tom Hiddleston IS the next James Bond

13 May 2016, 14:47 BST

This week Tom Hiddleston was spotted meeting with James Bond director Sam Mendes, further fuelling rumours he's to take over from Daniel Craig as British spy 007 in the next instalment of the action movie series. But, while nothing has been confirmed, here's all the evidence that suggests it's definitely happening…

First of all, he's a free man these days. Critically acclaimed series The Night Manager, which Tom stars in, recently aired the finale which makes Tom available to step into Daniel Craig's shoes. A second series of The Night Manager is reportedly in planning stages, but we reckon Tom's got time to shoot a Bond film first.

In April, Tom insisted he hadn't been approached by "anyone who makes the Bond films", but added: "It's odd because it's becoming overwhelming – not the thing of it, but the number of people who bring it up, it's actually becoming a weird thing to deal with."

Tom isn't the only actor rumoured to be the next Bond: fellow Brit hunk Idris Elba has also been named but they appeared to dismiss rumours they were fighting over the role earlier this month. Ahead of the Met Gala, both men were spotted leaving Anna Wintour's home, and happily posed for waiting snappers as they shared a joke.

And then we have the meeting with Sam Mendes. According to MailOnline, Tom and Sam were spotted together at London's Soho House: Dean Street. Sam directed two of the four Bond films starring Daniel.

During promotion for Spectre, Daniel said he'd rather "slash his wrists" than do another Bond film and, at that moment in time, he would only be tempted back for the money. So it looks pretty likely that somebody else will be taking over.