“This Never Happened To The Other Fella”
The continuity between Bond films has never been totally clear, but following the events of No Time to Die, Bond is set for a total reboot. While I wouldn’t go as far as to call my headline clickbait, it is slightly misleading in that I am not here to talk about the next actor to play Bond. There is already enough speculation about that, most of which comes from people who know as much about it as me, absolutely nothing! The one thing I will say on the subject is look at the actors who have gone before; the part has never been given to a movie star. Most of the actors became stars after they took the part but they started out as TV actors or from smaller movies.
I have spoken before about how there is a missing movie in the Daniel Craig story arc. Casino Royale gives us the young upstart becoming a 00 agent and learning some valuable lessons along the way. Quantum of Solace is a direct sequel that picks Bond up as a cynical and slightly jaded, almost broken man working through the loss and apparent betrayal of Vesper. This (along with the Timothy Dalton movies) is probably the closest the Bond has got to the character in Ian Fleming’s novels. Coming out the other side, moulded rather than healed, this is the complete and optimal James Bond, a cold, cruel, detached man, someone who appreciates life but doesn’t exactly enjoy it. But then came Skyfall; taken on its own merit, its one of the best Bond movies, but it’s the wrong movie. Skyfall depicts an older Bond past his prime, what we should have had was a more fun Bond in his prime, something like The Spy Who Loved Me or Goldeneye.
This leads to the question how old should the next actor be? Craig was 37 when he started out in Casino Royale, and 44 when past his prime in Skyfall. Younger than Moore in his first film, and older than Connery in his last (EON) film. But how old is Bond? In Mookraker, Fleming’s third novel, Bond was 37, incidentally the same age as Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. We know this as he states he is eight years away from retirement age of the 00 division, which is 45. Independent scholars John Griswold and Henry Chancellor both constructed what they call “high-level chronology of James Bond’s life”, based on their findings this would make Bond 31 at the time of Flemings first story Casino Royale, and 43 or 44 by the final novel The Man With the Golden Gun. But the character in the books was a fully formed character from the first book. That’s not to say a younger Bond hadn’t been toyed with. Timothy Dalton was considered for the part as early as 1968 when he was just 21. He turned it down when he was around 25, as he felt he was too young.
The perception has always been that Bond is late 30’s early 40’s, in truth, the youngest actor to play the part was George Lazenby at 29. The oldest was Roger Moore at 57, he was 46 in hist first appearance. Realistically the actor could be any age depending on when within his life and career they wish to tell the story. I have advocated the idea of bringing back a former Bond actor to play an older retired version of the character. I originally suggested Timothy Dalton, but Pierce Brosnan would also work. To go to the other extreme, we have Young Bond, a series of five novels and one short story by Charlie Higson and a further four by Steve Cole published between 2005 and 2017. When he started the project Higson was instructed by the Fleming estate to ignore the movies and continuation novels, and just use the original Fleming novels as canon. He also used aspects of Ian Flemings childhood, and Bond’s obituary from You Only Live Twice. While neither of these will form basis for the next movie, it does help illustrate the point that Bond could be any age. There is a school of thought that suggests they shouldn’t over think it. Go with the best person for the film they want to make at the time. Afterall, every incarnation of Bond has had to deal with issues that have resulted in changes to timing and casting over and above the best laid plans. They have included contract (pay) disputes, actors who can’t act, unavailable actors, rights issues, a writer’s strike, and covid 19.
In conclusion, the actor who is chosen will go a long way to deciding what story they want to tell. It may even go the other way, the actor may be chosen as he fits the story. I like the idea of going back to the start and adapting the books in order set in the 1950’s and 60’s. This won’t happen, but one thing that has been hinted at is a younger Bond, possibly a pre 007 Bond. One of the actors linked to the part Aaron Taylor-Johnson is only 32 suggesting this is an option. The biggest decision the filmmakers need to make is, are they going to make a series of films with a set character as they did for the for the first 40 years, or is he going to develop from movie to movie? In the words of Gareth Mallory:
“Good luck, 007. Don’t cock it up”.
As the promotion of next spring’s No Time To Die, the 25 James Bond movie gets underway, the merry go round of who will replace Daniel Craig as 007. The first thing I would say is that I am only talking about male actors, Bond is a man, and as M (Judi Dench) says in GoldenEye “a sexist, misogynist dinosaur. A relic of the Cold War”. There have been many suggestions that Ian Fleming’s character was actually a closeted or repressed homosexual. This isn’t as outlandish as it sounds. The books were written at a time when it was illegal to be gay. A gay friend, who knows a lot more than me on the subject once told me that the secret services actively recruited gay men at this time. Putting all this aside, the character would change too much if a woman were cast. That’s not to say there isn’t room for a female 00 agent. I would love to see a different film within the same universe. That said, EON Productions are making a rare departure from Bond with The Rhythm Section due for release early next year, before No Time To Die. Based on Mark Burnell novel of the same name the film promises to be a more gritty and realistic take on the genre. Blake Lively stars as Stephanie Patrick an accidental/reluctant spy. The film has an estimated $50 million budget, as a new property, this is considered a big risk, Bond 25 however cost five times that and will be expecting to smash $1billion in ticket sales. I hope the film does well for two reasons, the second book is the best in the series, I would love it to see it adapted. Secondly it would help the idea of a female 00. 
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