News Lashana Lynch to be the new 007...

[DigificWriter]

I'm sure you once would have said the same about Doctor Who, or Starbuck, or Thor, had someone predicted otherwise.

No.

The entirety of James Bond Canon has explicitly codified that James Bond is a specific individual whose identifying callsign (which was assigned to him by his employer, MI6, and over which he excersises zero ownership or exclusivity) just so happens to be 007.

It is for that specific reason that I roll my eyes at those people who want either a woman or a non-white actor to be cast in the role and continue on from where Craig left off narratively.

I don't know where this "James Bond is a codename" notion came from, but it's patently ridiculous and smacks of people either trying too hard or being mocking of the character.

 

[Tuskin38]

No.

The entirety of James Bond Canon has explicitly codified that James Bond is a specific individual whose identifying callsign (which was assigned to him by his employer, MI6, and over which he excersises zero ownership or exclusivity) just so happens to be 007.

It is for that specific reason that I roll my eyes at those people who want either a woman or a non-white actor to be cast in the role and continue on from where Craig left off narratively.

I don't know where this "James Bond is a codename" notion came from, but it's patently ridiculous and smacks of people either trying too hard or being mocking of the character.

You take things too literally and seriously.

What if it was a reboot, not a continuation? Would you be fine if Bond became a woman or non-white?

 

[dahj]

James Bond is a fictional character and a franchise property.

Should the people in charge of that property decide that for the next production James Bond will be a woman then James Bond will be a woman quicker than you can shoot all your canon out of a real cannon.

 

[CorporalClegg]

This could be the shot in the arm the franchise so desperately needs. I hope the film ends with Bond going rogue and LL has to shoot him in the face. Hell, recreate the Royale cold open. Black and white and everything. You know because symbolism.

No.

The entirety of James Bond Canon has explicitly codified that James Bond is a specific individual whose identifying callsign (which was assigned to him by his employer, MI6, and over which he excersises zero ownership or exclusivity) just so happens to be 007.

It is for that specific reason that I roll my eyes at those people who want either a woman or a non-white actor to be cast in the role and continue on from where Craig left off narratively.

I don't know where this "James Bond is a codename" notion came from, but it's patently ridiculous and smacks of people either trying too hard or being mocking of the character.

Oh, for fuck's sake.

The physical descriptive 'canon' everyone loves to point to is one paragraph of one book written by a self-proclaimed racist seventy years ago. And none of the actors to ever play the character has ever fully met said physical description 100%. And if you're suggesting that skin color bears any more weight than height, weight, build, eye color, hair color, complexion, facial marks, etc. Well...

As for gender, yes the current 'canon' is that James Bond is a man. Canon is always subject to change.

The only thing Bond needs to be to fit any canon requirements is a Royal Naval officer working in the SIS. And you could probably drop the former. Both the RN and SIS have women and PoC agents.

Besides, "Jamie Bond" isn't canonically anything yet. Just sayin.

 

[The Realist]

The Craig movies have all been massive improvements over the programmed crap that the franchise had ground out for decades.

 

[Kor]

This could be the shot in the arm the franchise so desperately needs. I hope the film ends with Bond going rogue and LL has to shoot him in the face. Hell, recreate the Royale cold open. Black and white and everything. You know because symbolism.



Oh, for fuck's sake.

The physical descriptive 'canon' everyone loves to point to is one paragraph of one book written by a self-proclaimed racist seventy years ago. And none of the actors to ever play the character has ever fully met said physical description 100%. And if you're suggesting that skin color bears any more weight than height, weight, build, eye color, hair color, complexion, facial marks, etc. Well...

As for gender, yes the current 'canon' is that James Bond is a man. Canon is always subject to change.

The only thing Bond needs to be to fit any canon requirements is a Royal Naval officer working in the SIS. And you could probably drop the former. Both the RN and SIS have women and PoC agents.

Besides, "Jamie Bond" isn't canonically anything yet. Just sayin.

There's also the Scottish/Swiss ancestry given to the character.
That could be discarded or rewritten, of course.

Kor

 

[The Realist]

The telling part for me in CR was when Bond comforted Casper in the shower.

 

[JD]

I wonder if Bond and the new 007 have a romance. It would't be a Bond movie without some romance. Jason

They won't, at least not at first. I'm lazy and don't feel like searching for it now, but the article I read said that in the scene where they introduce her, Bond tries to hit on 007 and she's not interested.

 

[DigificWriter]

You take things too literally and seriously.

What if it was a reboot, not a continuation? Would you be fine if Bond became a woman or non-white?

Yes. However, indications from Barbara Broccoli are that, even in a reboot, the character of James Bond will always be a man and will more than likely always be light-skinned.

Oh, for fuck's sake.

The physical descriptive 'canon' everyone loves to point to is one paragraph of one book written by a self-proclaimed racist seventy years ago. And none of the actors to ever play the character has ever fully met said physical description 100%. And if you're suggesting that skin color bears any more weight than height, weight, build, eye color, hair color, complexion, facial marks, etc. Well...

As for gender, yes the current 'canon' is that James Bond is a man. Canon is always subject to change.

The only thing Bond needs to be to fit any canon requirements is a Royal Naval officer working in the SIS. And you could probably drop the former. Both the RN and SIS have women and PoC agents.

Besides, "Jamie Bond" isn't canonically anything yet. Just sayin.

I was specifically talking about the Canon of the Bond film franchise.

 

[BillJ]

It will be weird for someone else to have the 007 code name. Though I’ll get used to it and hope it is successful.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

^ Nope to that, as the Craig Bond films were the hard-edged makeover the franchise needed to erase the stiff Brosnan missteps. Craig's Bond restored the kind of performance that painted Bond as utterly and believably ruthless not seen since the Dalton films.

 

[The Wormhole]

Yes. However, indications from Barbara Broccoli are that, even in a reboot, the character of James Bond will always be a man and will more than likely always be light-skinned.

I have in the past believed James Bond should always be a man mostly because that's his point, he's the ultimate male role model. Now, however, I find introducing a new female agent to take over the codename 007 to be a brilliant way around that. 007 can now be the ultimate female role model without removing James Bond from the equation. I'm kind of shocked and ashamed this idea never occurred to me before now.

However, there's absolutely no reason why James Bond has to be white, and it has long been my hope the next one after Craig wasn't white. Idris Elba would make an awesome Bond, even though at this point I doubt it'll actually happen.

I was specifically talking about the Canon of the Bond film franchise.

Yeah, no. The Bond films don't really have a canon, and indeed continuity between the various films has been pretty fast and lose up until the Craig films. Even then, it's only Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace that share any kind of a meaningful connection. IMO, the way Spectre connected itself and Skyfall to the other two was rather hamfisted and best left ignored.

 

[JD]

I have to wonder if the new 007 is at partly the reason they brought Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge in to work on the script.

 

[Mudd]

Yeah, no. The Bond films don't really have a canon, and indeed continuity between the various films has been pretty fast and lose up until the Craig films. Even then, it's only Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace that share any kind of a meaningful connection. IMO, the way Spectre connected itself and Skyfall to the other two was rather hamfisted and best left ignored.

I got a great kick out of the way Skyfall appropriated and turned continuity inside out - Bond having a classic DB5 with an ejection seat that is apparently somewhat famous, Dench's "M," who succeeded Bernard Lee's "M," becoming the precursor to the character for whom Moneypenny serves as assistant. I wish a lot of old franchises were as playful.

There is no "canon" to the Bond franchise.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I was specifically talking about the Canon of the Bond film franchise.

Is this the same film franchise that's seen three old white guys three young white guys and a black guy play Bond's BFF?

 

[DigificWriter]

Yeah, no. The Bond films don't really have a canon, and indeed continuity between the various films has been pretty fast and lose up until the Craig films. Even then, it's only Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace that share any kind of a meaningful connection. IMO, the way Spectre connected itself and Skyfall to the other two was rather hamfisted and best left ignored.

Everything you said here is incorrect.

 

[DigificWriter]

I have to wonder if the new 007 is at partly the reason they brought Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge in to work on the script.

She's a credited "script doctor", so this was likely not her decision, as it would have already been in the script when she was brought in.

 

[The Wormhole]

Everything you said here is incorrect.

Whatever you say, brah.

 

[DigificWriter]

Whatever you say, brah.

It's not like what I say; it's what the films themselves - and the people who make them - say.

 

[Gov Kodos]

I have in the past believed James Bond should always be a man mostly because that's his point, he's the ultimate male role model. Now, however, I find introducing a new female agent to take over the codename 007 to be a brilliant way around that. 007 can now be the ultimate female role model without removing James Bond from the equation. I'm kind of shocked and ashamed this idea never occurred to me before now.

However, there's absolutely no reason why James Bond has to be white, and it has long been my hope the next one after Craig wasn't white. Idris Elba would make an awesome Bond, even though at this point I doubt it'll actually happen.

Yeah, no. The Bond films don't really have a canon, and indeed continuity between the various films has been pretty fast and lose up until the Craig films. Even then, it's only Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace that share any kind of a meaningful connection. IMO, the way Spectre connected itself and Skyfall to the other two was rather hamfisted and best left ignored.

Get rid of anything they want just keep Bond dumping Blofeld down that chimney in For Your Eyes Only. Blofeld and the mighty Specter reduced to no more than being able to afford a delicatessen as bribe was hilarious.