Tom Hardy bookies’ new favourite to be next James Bond after motorcycle ‘thief’ chase
MOVIE hunk Tom Hardy’s was named the new bookies’ favourite to become the new James Bond yesterday after he chased down a crook who fled a stolen motorcycle smash.
Tom, 39, was cut from 6/1 outsider to 6/4 favourite within hours after his real life action hero antics boosted his 007 credentials.
Ladbrokes reported a flood of bets on the Legend, Batman and Taboo star after The Sun revealed how he ran through a building site and gardens and vaulted walls to collar the thief.
He was installed as their new Bond frontrunner yesterday, overtaking Idris Elba whose odds lengthened to 4/1 alongside Michael Fassbender and Aiden Turner with Edward Norton at 6/1.
Williams Hills also cut the brooding British hunk’s price from 4/1 to 3/1 but placed him behind Elba in the race to take over from current Bond Daniel Craig, 49.
Ladbrokes spokesman David Williams said yesterday: “We’ve had a rush of money on Tom Hardy and not a penny on anyone else since his have-a-go heroics - he’s our new clear favourite.
“Fans have been betting on the role going to a real life action hero. It’s been one-way traffic.”
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Tom launched a terrier like pursuit worthy of a Bond action sequence during the assault course-style chase after the smash near his home in Richmond, South West London.
A witness told The Sun how the screen hardman announced: "I caught the ****" after he grabbed the fleeing suspect by the scruff of the neck.
He was said to have even patted the suspect down for concealed weapons before police stepped in to handcuff him.
Arun Pullen, 22, said: "It was mental - like he'd switched to superhero mode in an action movie.
“Two boys on the nicked moped had jumped a red light and smashed into a car and one of them escaped.
"Tom went off like a shot in pursuit and looked furious. If the kid had been dumb enough to resist I reckon Tom would have given him a good hiding.
"I asked Tom what happened and he told me he chased him through my back garden and caught him around the block.”
Tom told one onlooker: "This little s*** nicked something and now he's got himself a broken leg."
The stolen moped carrying two men crashed into a £50,000 Mercedes at a busy road junction on Sunday afternoon.
Both thieves were injured. One was caught within moments but the other fled through gardens towards waste ground, where Tom caught up with him.
William Hills spokesman Joe Crilly said: "Just as Tom Hiddleston's odds drifted considerably due to his 'off-screen' shenanigans with Taylor Swift, Hardy's chances of becoming Bond have increased given that he seems to be a real life hero.”
Two suspects were yesterday facing theft charges after receiving hospital treatment.