The New James Bond Will Be Black And FEmale

While Daniel Craig is set to reprise his role as James Bond in the 25th Bond film, the franchise is set for a shake-up, with reports that British actor Lashana Lynch of Capital Marvel fame, has been cast as 007. Originally from London, Lynch, made her film debut in the film Fast Girls and has gone to make a name for herself in the Marvel Universe.
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As the scene is reported to play out in the new Bond film, James Bond is taken into the M16 office where he meets the new 007, not the new Bond, but the new holder of the licence to kill alias,  a black woman named Nomi, played by Lynch.
This is a daring move for a film franchise that has largely relied on plot formulas to make money both with on-screen sponsorship and box office tickets. The big question is will people take to a female James Bond? So far the reaction has been positive on social media where the producers have been praised for taking Bond out of the dark ages.

There has been much debate over the years whether Craig’s successor could be female, or a person of colour – or both. Executive producer, Barbara Broccoli whose father, Albert R Broccoli chaperoned the franchise since its inception, said in an interview last year that Bond was created male and she intended to keep it that way. What it was that changed her mind is anybody’s guess at this moment as its’ still tightly under raps.

Lynch’s appointment signals major progress for a franchise that has for a long time felt behind the times. Up until this point, the role of the world’s greatest secret agent has been played exclusively by white men. But it sounds like in Bond 25, the classic character will have to wrangle with the #MeToo movement.

Even the current James Bond, Daniel Craig, has acknowledged that Bond’s misogyny is out of touch. The first in the Daniel Craig era, 2006 Casino Royale, ultimately amounts to an origin story for Bond’s misogyny: He softens when he falls in love with Vesper, only to be betrayed. As a result, he reverts to his previous state as an emotionless, untrusting secret agent. It’s not just that Bond is bitter toward humanity, but toward women in particular, who, he calculates, make him weak.

What has changed in the 13 years since Casino Royale? While the setting may be 2019, but Bond is still very much a man of the 1950s. Casino Royale is a brilliant film exactly because it offers the personal backstory to Bond’s misdirected hatred towards women — though the audience shouldn’t take it as a justification for his behavior.
This is a Bond for the modern era who will hopefully appeal to a younger generation while sticking true to what we all expect in a Bond film such as spectacular chase sequences and fights, and Bond is still Bond just in female in form.