Although he missed out on Best Actor at the Oscars this year, Chiwetel Ejiofor was a strong contender for the gong. Playing Solomon Northrup in the harrowing drama 12 Years A Slave, Ejiofor wowed audiences with his fantastic performance. It's now looking like Chiwetel Ejiofor is in the running to play the villain in the as-yet-untitled follow-up to Skyfall.

Skyfall director Sam Mendes has signed up for two more Bond movies and according to The Wrap.com, Mendes is in talks with Ejiofor to play the villain. He'll follow on from Skyfall's Javier Bardem and Casino Royale's Mads Mikkelsen - who can be seen in EI staff favourite Hannibal.

We recently speculated on who the next Bond villain might be and it's safe to say that Ejiofor was nowhere on the list. The actor's really come out of nowhere, although fans of his work will know he's been putting in some seriously great work in the likes of Serenity and Children of Men. That said, it's kind of hard to imagine him as a villain. Then again, you'd have said the same thing about Daniel Craig as Bond.