The next James Bond film will show the secret agent pass the torch — and fans of the Ian Fleming-inspired franchise are in for a shock as to which star gets the latest license to kill.
Reports claim that the next Agent 007 will be played by British actress Lashana Lynch.
Lynch, 31, had a breakout role in "Captain Marvel" as Maria Rambeau, the titular superhero's best friend and fellow Air Force pilot.
The Daily Mail reports that screenwriter Phoebe Waller-Bridge intervened to pass the torch on to the star.
"There is a pivotal scene at the start of the film where M says 'Come in 007,' and in walks Lashana who is black, beautiful and a woman," a Bond insider claimed. "It's a popcorn-dropping moment. Bond is still Bond but he's been replaced as 007 by this stunning woman."
The source added, "Bond, of course, is sexually attracted to the new female 007 and tries his usual seduction tricks, but is baffled when they don't work on a brilliant, young black woman who basically rolls her eyes at him and has no interest in jumping into his bed. Well, certainly not at the beginning."
The insider also claimed that the phrase "Bond girls" is now verboten: The females in the spy franchise are now reportedly ordered to be called "Bond women."
Waller-Bridge, who pens the hit "Killing Eve," said, "There's been a lot of talk about whether or not Bond is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women. I think that's b—t. I think he's absolutely relevant now. [The franchise] has just got to grow. It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesn't have to. He needs to be true to his character."
The insider claims that the "Bond 25" script will maintain all of the classic Bond elements, including action and fight scenes with star Daniel Craig, while also tackling the super-spy's role in the #MeToo era — but with an injection of humor over overt preaching.
The as-yet-untitled film will also see Christoph Waltz reprise his role as James Bond's arch-enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Variety reported.
There's a really interesting arc that could be done in having Bond be 'replaced' by someone as 007 that rattles him. And the story could be really cool. But can we not pretend like this isn't just another transparent attempt at wokeness?
Whatever - if it's good I'll watch it but I suspect this is going to telegraph the direction they intend to take the franchise. It won't be to the franchise's benefit... [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
It's not the character that bugs me.
It's the pandering. That's just so damn blatant.
There's a really interesting arc that could be done in having Bond be 'replaced' by someone as 007 that rattles him. And the story could be really cool. But can we not pretend like this isn't just another transparent attempt at wokeness?
Whatever - if it's good I'll watch it but I suspect this is going to telegraph the direction they intend to take the franchise. It won't be to the franchise's benefit...
Agree on all counts.
I wasn’t particularly fond of her performance in Captain Marvel. But I was not thrilled with several directorial choices in Captain Marvel.
If the story is good, I’m down. If not it will be fairly catastrophic. Craig did quite the resuscitation of the franchise. It would be a travesty not to take advantage of that. [Reply]
What interests me is that the movie franchise has never had a passing-the-torch moment on screen. In my mind canon I like to think that 007 is a title that is assigned to different agents over time and that the various actors are different guys who have held the title. So it could be really fun if it's done well. I don't really care who the actor is as long as it's done well. It's a lot like Doctor Who for me in that way. [Reply]
Originally Posted by listopencil:
What interests me is that the movie franchise has never had a passing-the-torch moment on screen. In my mind canon I like to think that 007 is a title that is assigned to different agents over time and that the various actors are different guys who have held the title. So it could be really fun if it's done well. I don't really care who the actor is as long as it's done well. It's a lot like Doctor Who for me in that way.
I agree with this. I like the concept that 007 is a title and not a person. Is it pandering? Yeah. But it's not contrived pandering. It could actually work in the franchise.
I won't compromise, though, in the ongoing theme of 007 bedding beautiful women. That has to always be a part of the franchise, in which case the movies just got even better. Let's see Megan Fox or someone next. [Reply]
Oh just great :-) Now the new generation of Bond Men begins. This could go one of 2 ways and that leads to a downward spiral of a 50 year LEGACY. :-):-):-):-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Carr4MVP:
The entire press release is a Gender Studies major's wet dream.
Look how the new 007 is described: black, beautiful, and woman. No character traits at all.
It is going to be a debacle.
I liked Atomic Blonde and the Red Sparrow. Women kicking ass and great fight and action scenes. 007 franchise is kind of stale. They were due for a new Bond. Why not? [Reply]
When you have a culturally iconic character, there's nothing more likely to succeed than inventing a new character out of the blue, portrayed by a little known actor with little box office drawing power, and then inserting them as replacement of that classic character.
It always works. Especially if you take the time to really RUN DOWN that classic character and make sure people know just how superior their replacement is.
Right? I mean nobody watches James Bond because they care about James bond. Right? Works every time.
Yes, I'm just sarcastically expressing my belief this will bomb and they'll instantly revert back to using James Bond. I don't really like James Bond. XD I just smell a disaster. High critic score, low audience score and bad box office incoming. Though I DO think it will build demand for new Bond movies, so maybe they're aware of this and just playing the long game. [Reply]
