Much is being discussed about who should play the next Bond. All sorts of reboots and reimaginings have been suggested. Some I even like.
Purists are focused on either Connery or Craig. I grew up with the Moore, Dalton, Brosnan ones.
Since we can consider all options, I especially like the idea of a "Bond: The Next Generation" and specifically a James Bond Jr. filling in the shoes of his esteemed father.
If we play with this, I think we can go to some interesting places with it. I've landed on the Brosnan Bond for this.
Here's my pitch: Yahya Abdul Mateen plays the son of Giacinta "Jinx" Johnson. The NSA agent played by Halle Berry in Die Another Day the last Pierce Brosnan Bond film.
The cool thing about this is that you could kick off a Yahya-Bond era by reprising both Berry and Brosnan back from retirement in their original roles.
Cool plot ideas could include:
Jinx knew, or didn't know, or suspected her son was Bond's.
Bond Sr., Jinx, and James Jr. Join forces to fight a nemesis from the Brosnan-Bond days.
Bond Sr. hands off 007 toBind Jr.
Ok now you go...
Even after the disappointment I felt when I watched Skyfall in 2013, I wasn’t this negative while waiting for Spectre and NTTD, because I was still following a series I loved. But Bond 26 is genuinely the first Bond film I’ve ever disliked before it even releases. After nearly two decades of Craig-era influence, and despite the resurgence of fun, entertainment-first cinema today, MGM still insisted on the same direction. Instead of pairing a truly craft-driven writer/director team, they brought in Villeneuve and Steven Knight. Their “vision” feels just as narrow as the pulp or entertainment filmmakers they look down on, yet they sell it as “depth.”
Honestly, haven’t we had enough of the same “deconstruction” approach for years now? The only direction on the table seems to be an even harsher, gloomier, more self-serious Bond, and nobody at MGM appears willing to push back. Is this franchise only for festival crowds and high-profile critics now? How much longer is this going to continue? For the first time in my life, I’m feeling what it’s like to have zero excitement, curiosity, or desire for an upcoming Bond film. MGM is basically telling me, and everyone who feels the same way, to get lost. So I will. I’m not paying for this. If you actually want the series to recover, then boycott this direction. I honestly don’t see what Villeneuve can add to a tired franchise that’s already having an identity crisis. It still feels stuck in a stale formula from years ago.
I can’t share certain press and rumor links here because they are not considered reliable sources under the subreddit rules, and I’m not presenting any of that as confirmed news. But the overall chatter points in one very specific direction: they want to push Bond even further into a harsher, more miserable, more self-serious approach, with an even heavier “deconstruction” angle. What worries me most is that it does not seem like anyone at the studio is pushing back against that instinct or putting any brakes on it.
The “Bond is Bond no matter what” take doesn’t apply to me. And I don’t accept the “times have changed” argument either. Times always change. This isn’t adapting to the times. It’s locking a 60-year legacy into a single dreary tone. If you also want fun Bond movies to return in a way that fits our era, don’t reward this Peaky Blinders, Sicario or Prisoners flavored misery that just happens to be titled “James Bond.” Please, before it’s too late. We just want a good James Bond film again. Not an auteur’s ego.
This is what I think bond face looks like
What if Amazon MGM decides to go with an unknown?
How many currently relevant young Brits are there who have the suave factor, can be able to say, "Martini -- shaken, not stirred," in a way that doesn't sound laughable and whose potential casting won't be met with universal derision?
While there have been many movies that flopped financially because they starred people who lacked high name recognition, this shouldn't be a problem for a Bond flick.