No Time To Die will mark the end of Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond and the question on everyone’s mind now is what will 007’s future be once the movie is out in the wild? Well according to long-time Barbara Broccoli (yes that’s her name, let’s leave it), don’t expect a woman to be James Bond ever because the character will always be played by a man.
Chatting to Variety about her family’s James Bond legacy, Barbara Broccoli says they’re quite open about shaking up the formula as to who will be the next person to slip into the secret agent’s tuxedo – just as long as they’re male. Hold your pitchforks back because her explanation is actually quite good.
Despite the increased female presence in No Time To Die, Broccoli explains that they should focus on creating new characters for women rather than gender-flipping James Bond.
“He can be of any color, but he is male. I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”
Barbara Broccoli’s comments about James Bond forever being a dude may raise some eyebrows, but she has a good point. As much as we want to see a female Bond, the character is the ultimate male fantasy and is rooted in masculinity (for better or worse). It simply makes no sense for a woman to play the part.
And besides, why would a woman want to be James Bond anyway when they can be a completely new character, someone they can put their mark on with no existing baggage?
Just because a woman can’t/shouldn’t be James Bond doesn’t mean they can’t be a “007.” After all, 007 is just a codename and literally anyone can carry that mantle, not just Bond. Throw in Broccoli’s comments about creating new strong female characters in the franchise, we may well get a 007 very soon.
And if the introduction of a new female “00” agent in No Time To Die is anything to go by, it seems like the franchise could indeed be heading down a James Bond-less path at some point. Here’s hoping something like that happens – or is at least on the way there – when No Time To Die drops in April.
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