Who’s your vote for the next James Bond?

[The Soloist]

Otto Farrant did well in the young adult spy action Alex Rider Netflix series. He is English and 28. Needs to put on some muscle.

 

[Mercurius]

It would be interesting to start with a very young Bond. Casino Royale had Bond's first kill, I believe, but it was a flashback. While I think Bond is best at 40-45ish, if they found the right actor, they could start with someone in their late 20s and see him grow into Bondness.

 

[MarkB]

It would be interesting to start with a very young Bond. Casino Royale had Bond's first kill, I believe, but it was a flashback.

Yeah, by about 20 minutes. By the time we're past the intro and into the main plot he's still a newly-minted 00 agent.

 

[Tonguez]

Timothy Dalton is Welsh. So we have:

Connery: Scottish
Lazenby: Australian
Moore: English
Dalton: Welsh
Brosnan: Irish
Craig: English

I guess we could consider a Jamaican, Kiwi or Canadian for the next one?

Daltons born in Wales, but his father was English and Mother American-Irish

Why, though? I'm so tired of this Hollywood vs. rubes culture war game. James Bond is a dude - he's been a dude for over 70 years. What is gained by making him female? Who does it serve except Hollywood execs and those fans who think it is some kind of subversive cultural win?

Why not, instead, start a new franchise or spin-off with a female super-spy? I'd love to see a spin-off film with Ana de Armas kicking butt. It is a best of both worlds, really. Or if you insist on the Bond name, why not introduce his sister?

Not every single film franchise has to be a new battleground for culture wars. If the goal is to represent different types than white males, then churn out something fresh and new - start new franchises. "Colonizing" old ones just stirs a pot that doesn't need to be stirred and ends up working against the goal that it supposedly (but doesn't really) serves.

Yeah I agree, which is partly why I think James Bond should be retired then MI6 can start recruiting a whole slew of new agents of every stripe - maybe even call them the Bondsmen

 

[Kaodi]

Or, horrors, an American Bond working for the CIA. And, since it's eventually going to happen, this would be a good chance to try out a female James Bond, and see how the audiences react.

I am sure you mean well but at this particular moment in time I found the idea of the US appropriating Bond to be momentarily rage inducing.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

What is gained by making him female

Whilst “make a movie about a different superspy” may seem obvious, but it’s been done many times. There was a whole rash of them in the 60s when Doctor No was a big hit, mostly of the American Bond subtype, and there has been a steady flow ever since. Occasionally, they even feature female spies. Aside from a couple of TV shows (UNCLE, The Avengers) they are largely forgotten (Our Man Flint anyone?)

The sad fact is it’s hard to have a big hit with superheroes without the Marvel branding, a hit space adventure without the Star Wars branding, or spy adventure without the Bond branding.

 

[Bedrockgames]

IMO, they're taking an obvious, and wrong, approach to their new casting.

The Daniel Craig films never quite settled on whether they were part of the same continuity as those that went before - "Casino Royale", despite Judy Dench as M, felt like a new start, but as they series went on they leaned more and more on the past. Either way, "No Time To Die" seems to be a pretty definitive end.

That gives them a chance to do something new, and I'd suggest they should embrace it - rather than looking for another young(ish) guy to play Bond for 15 years, I'd instead do a few standalone, more experimental takes on the character.

So maybe you do cast someone older to play the grizzled Bond. Or, hell, see if Dalton would come back for a much older Bond, who for whatever reason has to come back into action but has to deal with the fact that he just can't do what he once did.

Maybe you do a Bond film set back in the 60s. Or maybe one set in the 1860s - let's see how Bond fares when he's not an agent of a dying Imperial power but instead the pre-eminent Imperial power of the age. Or do a film about the naval Commander Bond in WWII - maybe he gets involved in a plot involving Nazis and stolen nuclear plans?

Or, horrors, an American Bond working for the CIA. And, since it's eventually going to happen, this would be a good chance to try out a female James Bond, and see how the audiences react.

There was already an attempt to do an American James Bond: Remo Williams. He was supposed to be a blue collar American James Bond

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I am sure you mean well but at this particular moment in time I found the idea of the US appropriating Bond to be momentarily rage inducing.

My feeling is now is not the right time to revive Bond in any form. Let him R.I.P.

 

[Tonguez]

Whilst “make a movie about a different superspy” may seem obvious, but it’s been done many times. There was a whole rash of them in the 60s when Doctor No was a big hit, mostly of the American Bond subtype, and there has been a steady flow ever since. Occasionally, they even feature female spies. Aside from a couple of TV shows (UNCLE, The Avengers) they are largely forgotten (Our Man Flint anyone?)

The sad fact is it’s hard to have a big hit with superheroes without the Marvel branding, a hit Space adventure without the Star Wars branding, or spy adventure without the Bond branding.

The Kingsmen, Bourne, Mission Impossible, Jack Reacher, Jack Ryan, Johnny English, Spykids ?

They have all been able to establish identities post-Bond, so while Bond is dominant I dont think it is quite on the same level of Marvel/DC or Star Wars/Trek, which means that there is still space for a new Super Spy franchise to establish and grow - especially if one takes a broad view of genre

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The Kingsmen, Bourne, Mission Impossible, Jack Reacher, Jack Ryan, Johnny English, Spykids ?

They have all been able to establish identities post-Bond, so while Bond is dominant I dont think it is quite on the same level of Marvel/DC or Star Wars/Trek, which means that there is still space for a new Super Spy franchise to establish and grow - especially if one takes a broad view of genre

Mostly, they have established identities by not being like Bond. For example, the Mission Impossible franchise focuses on a heist format, rather than an investigation format which is at the core of most Bond movies.

As for Johnny English, that's just one of the most recent of a very very very long line of Bond parodies. Carry on Spying (1964) is way better.