After a delay of more than a year Daniel Craig finally took his final bow as James Bond in No Time To Die. And while the character saw a fitting end, we know that “James Bond will return.” What we don’t know is when that will happen or who it will be that takes on the mantle. Franchise producer Barbara Broccoli is clearly in no hurry to recast James Bond at this moment, though when she does, it seems it’s unlikely the franchise will do what some have been calling for and make James Bond a woman.
Since back before we even knew Daniel Craig would be returning for one final go round as James Bond, there have been many fans who have wanted to see James Bond get some diversity intro the franchise. Some have called for the next James Bond to be somebody of a different race, others have hoped we might see a woman in the role. Barbara Broccoli tells THR, quite clearly, that she’s not in favor of Bond as a woman, though she has no issue with the next Bond being of a different race as long as he’s still British. She explains…
I think it will be a man because I don’t think a woman should play James Bond. I believe in making characters for women and not just having women play men’s roles. I don’t think there are enough great roles for women, and it’s very important to me that we make movies for women about women. He should be British, so British can be any [ethnicity or race].
This is an argument that others have made before. Simply casting a woman in the role designed for a man doesn’t necessarily help fix the larger problem: that leading roles, especially in major franchises, are seriously lacking for women. At the same time, it has to be said that simply creating the role doesn’t mean it will come with the level of respect and popularity that James Bond has.
So while it seems likely that James Bond will remain a man, it is possible that man could be a person of color. But we have no idea who that person could be. And Barbara Broccoli doesn’t either. The producer says she wants to celebrate what Daniel Craig has done for a while longer, before turning her attention to what comes next. She continues…
I want to let this film play and really celebrate Daniel’s incredible achievement that he has done over 16 years. People always ask, ‘Oh, who’s the next James Bond?’ It’s like asking a bride as she’s going up to the altar who’s her next husband going to be. I don’t really want to think about who is going to be the next person until I absolutely have to.
It was three years between the release of the last Pierce Brosnan James Bond film and the announcement that Daniel Craig was taking the role, so we probably shouldn’t expect an announcement to come too soon. But when it does, we can expect that announcement to be for a man.