With the writers of the new Bond film struggling following his death in No Time To Die - what would you do to reboot the franchise?
Posted by rumoff@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 773 comments
The writers are complaining that Bond's death at NTND is causing 'headaches' for the new film. I'm interested what AskUKers would you do to reboot the franchise?
yolo_snail@reddit
Tbh, I can't say I've ever really considered Bond films as anything other than independent of each other.
Bond could die at the end of every film, and it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.
PublicPossibility946@reddit
I always consider each new bond the replacement for the last one who has retired or died somehow, probably an STD. The name Bond and 007 being aliases given to the spy by MI6
I don't know how people get their heads around Sean Connery bond from the 60s being the exact same person as Pierce Brosnan Bond from the 90s.
fsuk@reddit
I always thought this would have been a good way to link all the films together, it would have worked if it weren't for the whole Skyfall estate thing.
KopiteForever@reddit
Agreed, but then they wrote themselves into that corner then the NTND one.
It's not a curse, it's a blessing. Let the new agent given the designation 007 be a woman or a black or Asian guy.
Not every J 'action agent' needs to be a middle aged white guy.
We've already got Jason Bourne, Jack Reacher, James Bond etc
Let's have Jacinta Bourne, Jamie Bond or Jackie Reacher, fuck it, let's have a Jasvinder Bond!
No stereotypes please.
Dinner_and_a_Murder@reddit
How about his daughter becoming the new Bond?
KopiteForever@reddit
Why not. We love Black Widow and other female heroes. I'd be happy with that.
The only downsides I can see is timeline, the next Bond would need to be set 10/15 years in the future at a minimum. Secondly, it ties the hands of the writers to a degree. The designation doesn't belong to the person but rather the role/agent.
Personal-Listen-4941@reddit
Until Skyfall, it was common fanon that James Bond was just a code/fake name for whichever agent got the 007 position. The same reason there are multiple people called Moneypenny, Felix Lester, M, etc.
Dinner_and_a_Murder@reddit
There was some of that out there, but the writers and producers made it clear this wasn’t not the case. That each Bond was the same person played by new actors. And they were working outside of time frames. As if every movie takes place in the current time space. Craig was a reboot because his past had become soooo long and new generations were not going to know all that. Still at the end of the day killing James Bond was a real bonehead move.
ak30live@reddit
Maybe some fans have come up with this idea but it's pretty weak in the context of the books and films.
The reality is Bond, like Superman, Sherlock Holmes or any enduring character, will be played by countless people over the years. All the writers of the new film need to do is write a decent James Bond film about James Bond.
If they choose to try to continue the story arc from the last film then it won't be James Bond as he's dead. It will be some other 007. Why would a totally different person using the same name also drink the same drinks, drive the same car, and have the same approach to frequent casual sex 🙂 and in that case why bother calling it a James Bond film at all other than trying to milk Fleming's IP
biggles1994@reddit
The chief of MI6 semi-officially has the codename "C" (for the first holder of the role who was a Captain and used C as a stand in) so the idea of them using letters or codenames handed down over time is based on real life.
xBILLDOOMx@reddit
The C doesn't stand for captain, nor Chief, it stands for Cumming in the first holders name Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who always signed his letters simply 'C'.
HotRabbit999@reddit
& in bond multiple people have had M, Q, 007 etc so it's not a huge stretch
TheGreatBatsby@reddit
No it wasn't, they're all clearly the same man. Otherwise why does Roger Moore lay flowers at the grave of George Lazenby's wife?
sometingwong934@reddit
Out of respect for the prior Bond/007's late wife, perhaps? Sort of like comradery between the people who've used that code name
joshii87@reddit
Or maybe Tracey Bond was a bit of a goer?
Phenomenomix@reddit
Well, if you know what old Rog’ was like back in the day that wouldn’t too surprising
SixFiveOhTwo@reddit
That's why he chose his stage name.
If you were ever in a hotel room next to his all you would hear is 'Roger! More!'.
truearse@reddit
Your acting like affairs between coworkers doesn’t happen
The__Pope_@reddit
Doesn't one of the older films open right when the one before finished but with different actors for bond? I forgot which one but it's always used as the reason this theory doesn't work
HotRabbit999@reddit
It's problematic with bond visiting Tracey's grave & talking about her. However that film - on her majestys secret service - opens with bind going "this never happened to the other fella" so that film both confirms & denies they're all the same person
Vegetable_Creme6944@reddit
There was the scene at the start of OHMSS where Lazenby finishes battling some henchmen on the beach then straight up looks to the camera and deadpan goes "This never happened to the other fella!"
I think he even used the line as the title of his autobiography years later...
I've always gone with the fanon explanation that Bond is a codename/pseudonym for OO agents, there's probably a different identity for OO's 1-6 then 8 & beyond
gridlockmain1@reddit
And they all just happen to like vodka martinis shaken not stirred?
Vegetable_Creme6944@reddit
First rule of espionage... Never break cover, if the packet says 'Likes Vodka Martinis' you drink vodka martinis lol
I'm also a fan of the theory that Bond is simply a cover, blundering about "saving the world" in the most OTT, visible and unprofessional manner while other, considerably more covert, agents are working in the background performing the actual mission by the book
The__Pope_@reddit
It's a fourth wall breaking joke, it doesn't invalidate the rest of the carry over
Old-Sky1969@reddit
I hink not long into On Her Majesty's Secret Service when Bond doesn't get the girl, George Lazenby turns to the camera and says "This never happened to the other guy"
The__Pope_@reddit
Yeah but the writers explained that as a fourth wall breaking joke, I don't think it invalidates all the other references that carry over
First-Butterscotch-3@reddit
Reason it never worked is the common thread of his marrige and her death which is referenced several times - the last being license to kill where lighter mentions to his new wife that bond was married and as bond drives away morrosley you faintly hear a few bars of"we have all the time in the world" in the background
The most prominent reminder with moore was for your eyes only or spy who loved me where is starts with him at her grave
There are couple of other references as well
HauntingRefuse6891@reddit
How dare you, it’s Felix Leiter.
AndyJWM@reddit
been watching bond movies my whole life, never heard that before. it makes sense in a continuity but i've always taken each bond era as independant of the others so it never entered consideration. M, Q and 00x are monikers where the person holding it can change and we just happen to see the current 007, James Bond.
It's like Superman movies, they don't all exist in the same universe but they're all Superman
JackXDark@reddit
The way to possibly make that work is to do it a bit like the Jason Bourne of the books - make it an implanted para-personality.
Fleming actually, somewhat, did that in the books, having Bond be brainwashed to attempt to assassinate Q with (I shit you not) an acid water-pistol. Subsequently he was sent out on impossible missions with the intention that he not come back.
Speirs101@reddit
Which book are you referencing?
silburnl@reddit
You Only Live Twice is the book where Bond is posted as missing, presumed dead after his final confrontation with Blofeld.
Man With The Golden Gun opens with him returning to London a year later and attempting to assassinate M after being brainwashed by the soviets. Turns out that being last reported on a Japanese island that dramatically explodes isn't as fatal as you might think 🤔
When I saw the final act of No Time To Die I figured Eon were lampshading that they were going to reboot the character by having him come back a 'changed man' in the next film and try to kill M. in the pre-credit sequence.
They could still do that I guess, but I suppose they weren't hinting at that plan in the film given what the current writers are saying about how they're struggling with the script (unless it's a media management head fake ofc).
Downtown_Let@reddit
Opening with a brainwashed "Bond" trying to kill M feels like the the best idea I've read so far. Whether he's meant to be the original, or someone who gets moulded into "Bond" by surviving the ridiculous mission M eventually sends him on, that cements his reputation for the next films.
Downtown_Let@reddit
Opening scene: M learns there's a threat to him from an "agent" (implied foreign), framed as bad guy, actor like James Norton who could be either good or bad. Team of military/agents try to intercept.
We follow them, many taken out, some with more "character" potential for starring role keep going some in pursuit, some to intercept (these are our future 007s we're to root for. Main character agent 00s are challenged, mentally and physically, some succumb.
Dark Agent reaches M's building/area, goes for M but is attacked by two 00s who we've been following, one gets killed in the melee, the remaining 00 appears to have been victorious, (new Bond?) but the Dark Agent outwits them, and they end up dead/seriously injured.
Dark Agent goes for M, Moneypenny distracts him, and M takes out the Dark Agent (heavy weight, gas, bullet, whatever...). M grabs a gun and points at the unconscious Dark Agent to finish him off, but hesitates. Moneypenny walls over and says "Wasn't he one of us once? What happened???"
M notices a scar around the Dark Agent's shaved head. "I don't know, but we'll find out!".
~Queue opening sequence in elaborate Bond fashion with a Neuralink style chip flying in and out of his head~
Remaining main movie is them removing the Neuralink and reprogramming him. He could be an ex-spy or ex-navy officer. M sets about trusting him and his mission is to investigate the chips and who is installing them, powerful billionaires, and why M had to be killed.
(Copywrite: me)
silburnl@reddit
The Man With The Golden Chip
conspiracyfetard89@reddit
Sean Connery Bond was the original Bond, and that was his real name. Then it became a code name until his grandson, also called James Bond (played by Daniel Craig), took on the job.
Regantowers@reddit
I love the theory that Sean's character in The Rock is linked to his character in Bond.
Austen_Tasseltine@reddit
I love the theory that the character’s real name is “Sean Connery Bond”.
PublicPossibility946@reddit
Everyone forgets David Niven Bond
bored_toronto@reddit
Woody Allen as Jimmy Bond.
PublicPossibility946@reddit
Russ Abbot Bond
Toffeemanstan@reddit
Brook Bond?
PublicPossibility946@reddit
Basildon Bond
joshii87@reddit
Samantha Bond
Skarr-Skarrson@reddit
That’s the one I like! And now like the grandson theory as well.
retroheads@reddit
Yeah this is wholesome. Maybe have Basildon Bond as his Uncle.
alphahydra@reddit
Even before that, they had Roger Moore visiting the grave of Lazenby Bond's wife, and Lazenby Bond reminiscing as he looks at mementos from his adventures as Sean Connery, Dalton reminiscing about past adventures with the same Felix Leiter from Live and Let Die...
It was a fun fan theory, but until the rest with Daniel Craig, the producers always tried to establish them as the same man, albeit on a sliding timeline, with the past films as a vague backstory.
Broccoli--Enthusiast@reddit
The Craig films were a full reboot anyway. They just kept Judi Dench for a bit. It was definitely his actual name in those films because we see him before he's 007
I'm sure in the other films he's established by the time we see them. So it's possible
But Personally I prefer the films as self contained stories
brinz1@reddit
Just start a new bond and have Zero acknowledgement of it
account_not_valid@reddit
Even better, Zero Zero Seven acknowledgement.
Frosty_Customer_9243@reddit
Sounds like the best way forward. Start where he is recruited into MI5 to generate a plausible backstory that doesn't link to Skyfall.
ProtoplanetaryNebula@reddit
I like the old school bonds, the newer ones had too much Hollywood bullshit for me and they ceased to be real bond films.
fsuk@reddit
I know, Moonraker was definitely the high point ;)
Spicy_hoummus@reddit
Make Bond a vampire
PublicPossibility946@reddit
Yes.
A tie in with the 'What we do in the shadows' universe.
Matt Berry can be Bond.
Bloefeld. "After I kill you Mister Bond I will take over the WORLD"
Bond "B A T!"
Bloefeld "He flew away! The fucker escaped again..... Oh sod this I'm getting a job as an estate agent"
THEMikeUK@reddit
He's 007, there are 9 double-0 agents. Several of them have died in his time and had new 00 agents. He's been threatened with losing his 00 status.
The bond films cover a massive period.
Every time the subject of having a non-white, non-male, non-whatever "Bond" has come up I've always said make the continuity 007 not James Bond.
He's finally too old to do it, so here's the new 007 carry on...
The idea that the NAME comes with the code number is a great twist on that. Makes sense to me.
Here's the new 007 she's called Mary Smith - fine
Here's the new Jane Bond 007 - fine
etc
Prequel in their time line? Fine.
he didn't die? Absolute horror show no way!
THEMikeUK@reddit
I rewatched no time to die for the first time since seeing it in the cinema. After the whole dying at the end bit it turns out I remembered very little of that film!
One thing that clearly did not stick in my head was Bond HAD been replaced with a black woman as the new 007.
Can't believe that didn't sink in as I've been making that argument for the last two bond actor changes!
forgotpassword_aga1n@reddit
Could explain the Skyfall estate as belonging to the first James Bond, who left it to MI6 after losing his family and having no surviving relatives. The agent dubbed 007 also always takes the name as a tribute.
X-actoMundo@reddit
Skyfall becomes the place where prospective 00s are selected and inducted, away from official oversight for the purpose of deniability.
EngineersAnon@reddit
Except that Roger Moore's Bond was introduced mourning at the grave of Lazenby's Bond's wife.
Thrilalia@reddit
Also the start of Diamonds is Bond going in a revenge spree for Tracy's death. Felix's wife asks Bond why he's not married in LTK which greatly upsets (Dalton's)Bond and Felix tells his wife about Tracy being murdered. Also Tracy and previous Bond stuff is brought up during Pierce's run too. Meaning from Dr No to DAD it's either all the same person and continuity or 5 men who all had a wife named Tracy murdered on their wedding day.
Plastic_Library649@reddit
It's also mentioned in "The Spy Who Loved Me" when Anya demonstrates she's read Bond's file.
AndyJWM@reddit
or each actors outing as Bond is independent and they all share the same characters backstory, the same way we've had many different superman movies but its not a continuity.
EngineersAnon@reddit
Good theory, but it doesn't hold water. From Connery through Brosnan, the events in the previous films were part of the backstory for the next. Connery, Moore, Dalton, and Brosnan all refer to Tracy, whom Lazenby married - which is just the most obvious example.
EngineersAnon@reddit
I just figure he's a Time Lord, making Dalton the only person I'm aware of to play two different Time Lords on screen.
PumpkinLadle@reddit
Possibly the first, but funnily enough Colin Baker also played two Time Lords in Doctor Who. Before appearing as the Sixth Doctor he appeared as a Time Lord soldier who shoots the Fifth Doctor.
EngineersAnon@reddit
Then he would be first. Dalton didn't play Rassilon until NewWho.
PumpkinLadle@reddit
Ah, of course! My brain just defaulted to his Bond tenure coming first and therefore he was first.
Although I just googled that and it seems Colin Baker's tenure as the Doctor was first anyway. Not my day today.
Normal-Height-8577@reddit
It definitely would make a surprising amount of sense if he were a Time Lord.
Thrilalia@reddit
Unless Bond is Rassilon doing a side job.
Impressive-Chart-483@reddit
Facial reconstruction obvs! Gotta keep things fresh!
GreenLion777@reddit
Exactly
It's the same character alright.
In regard to his dead beloveds - Casino Royale, Vesper also, at the end of the movie (apologies to those who haven't seen it lol - been 19 yrs now my defence haha)
007 is a call sign, and James is his name. Daniel Craig's 'edition' is the son of Andrew Bond and Monique Bond, same as the original Bond in Dr No, and the novels. It's a hell of a coincidence that different bonds (as some want to think) would have exactly the same named parents, lol
Beartato4772@reddit
Bond isn't above affairs ;)
JurassicM4rc@reddit
I'm sure he's usually on top of his affairs.
Beartato4772@reddit
You’re hired to write the next film.
DesLynam@reddit
She was a right shagger though. They were both upset. She'd banged half of the secret service supposedly.
TheTackleZone@reddit
Seeing how Moore played Bond I still think that could work haha.
Gone_For_Lunch@reddit
And Brosnans Bond admires old gadgets in Qs workshop in Die Another Day. The only exception is Craig’s Bond clearly being a reboot.
mdmnl@reddit
But a reboot with the same M and the same Aston Martin, which was a kind of eat your cake and have it.
Almost_human-ish@reddit
Kind of like maybe a Layer Cake maybe?
mostly_kittens@reddit
It’s not the same M, she has a totally different name
One-Web-2698@reddit
Emma.
kharma45@reddit
However there is the quip in OHMSS about "This never happened to the other fellow".
Who is the other fellow if not Connery?
Marble-Boy@reddit
At the end of each movie a new Bond is selected and they're possessed by the 007 demon that makes them Bond.
They've got an X Men Apocalypse kinda thing going on.
PublicPossibility946@reddit
I would watch this.
DanFran81@reddit
I think exactly this. I heard a really good fan story recently where that bad guy was actually an ex-Bond and they could bring back an old actor.
purpleduckduckgoose@reddit
There's the issue of his wife though. I can't remember which one it is but Bond gets married, his wife gets shot and killed and in the next one with a different actor mention of his wife is made.
ZaharaWiggum@reddit
I always assumed this, that it was a number assigned to the job, not the person.
strongbowblade@reddit
Every James Bond is a code name except Craig, by happy coincidence his Bond really is called James Bond
handtoglandwombat@reddit
But Sean Connery bond is the dude who gets Nicolas Cage into Alcatraz.
PublicPossibility946@reddit
I wish he could have recruited Nick to be Nicolas Cage Bond. We never got to have Nicolas Cage Superman either 8( At least we got Nicolas Cage Nick Cage in The unbearable weight of massive talent.
X-actoMundo@reddit
and Nic Cage Batman in Kick Ass.
MidsummerMidnight@reddit
Wait, they're not different people?!
Alekazam@reddit
The only thing preventing me from believing this is that all the Bonds had the same background; orphan, commander in the Royal Navy, etc
starke24@reddit
Why does Bond/007 get the special treatment and no other 00?
In my mind, every Bond has the same/similar life, its just they happen at different points in time. (Think of it like the multiverse from Marvel or DC.)
Eg: Dalton and Brosnan fought SPECTRE but instead of the 60s, wouldve been early 80s.
adymann@reddit
Yes, it's not like Doctor Who.
Jonatc87@reddit
Isn't that how it is in the books? A new 007?
Hot_Fly_8684@reddit
And they're all called James Bond?
Maleficent-Drive4056@reddit
I suppose it's just as easy to get your head around c. 10 different people being almost identical in character, and having the same name.
PublicPossibility946@reddit
Daniel Craig Bond has a near identical Character as Sean Connery Bond?
Seriously?
Maleficent-Drive4056@reddit
Yes. I know there are differences, but they are still very similar (remember they are meant to be the same person!). I think this is a 'wood from the trees' situation. James Bond and Liz Truss are very different. Bond (Craig) and Bond (Brosnan) are very similar.
Both:
GuendouziGOAT@reddit
They obviously are the same person canonically (up until Casino Royale rebooted the series) but my philosophy has always just been “don’t think about it too hard.” There’s a loose chronology with some common threads but thankfully the pre-Craig Bond films weren’t too lore-heavy so it was easy to overlook any reference to a prior film as it was usually just a brief aside.
I think the worst thing the writers of the new one could do would be to jump through hoops to explain why he’s not dead actually when honestly they could just sidestep it entirely. Or just briefly imply that it takes place before the events of No Time to Die and proceed with the series from there, though I still feel that’s needlessly complicating things.
Melodic-Tutor-2172@reddit
That’s what I thought too. James Bond was the name assigned to the 007 agent.
PublicPossibility946@reddit
I knew of two instances where Bonds had referred to a previous Bond but reading the responses it looks like there are quite a few. Writers made it being the same person through the years cannon... Oh well Amazon don't give a damn about cannon and continuity, just look at Rings of Power, so they can retcon that idea.
truearse@reddit
Which seems redundant , because every country will be like “oh a James Bond? THIS GUYS A SPY”
NotAMusicLawyer@reddit
In fairness there’s a 28 year gap between Connery’s last Eon Bond film and Brosnan.
Bond has been played by Craig for 20 years. It’s not inconceivable there’s a similar gap in time between him and the next Bond.
HauntingRefuse6891@reddit
They kinda alluded to that in no time to die with the woman taking on the mantle of 007. It seems the obvious direction really.
ian9outof10@reddit
Don’t forget he had a stronk once, they had to call a bondbulance
HumanBeing7396@reddit
Even if that wasn’t meant to be the case before, they could easily do it now. The newly-recruited 007 needs a new identity to escape his past, so he’s given the codename James Bond in honour of his predecessor.
M explains the mission to him, commenting that he has a reputation for breaking the rules just like the original Bond. On his way out of the door, M says “Oh and Bond? Do try to be careful.” Bond grins and raises an eyebrow. By the end of the film, we’ve all forgotten that he’s not the same person.
Capable-Detective-69@reddit
Imagine trying to escape your past so you're given a new one and it's James Bond's. Seems like that might invite more problems TBH.
smedsterwho@reddit
He's a Timelord!
NauticaSeven@reddit
I saw Dr. No the day it was released. I'll watch the next one. And the next.
It's always been "suspension of disbelief anyway.
GreenLion777@reddit
007 is an alias or code name as shown in Time To Die. Nomi is 007 for most of that movie. But the idea that 'James Bond' (and I've heard of that argument, but it's a bit much tbh) is also that, and not his name is well, silly.
A common consistent trait with James (or background), is that he becomes a ruthless agent driven by the loss of his true love, early on in his secret service career - as depicted in On His Majesty's Secret Service, and more recently Casino Royale
Remember they are based on books, and the super spys parents are Andrew and Monique BOND - are they fake names too ?
Like Doctor Who, it's the same character portrayed by different actors down the decades
tavish101@reddit
Bond isn't an alias if everything that has came before now is anything to go by, yet 007 is indeed the codename. Each actor has his own carnation of the role. Only the Daniel Craig films are truly sequential. The others are standalone stories. Who knows what the amazon writers are worried about? They have a clean slate. Probably afraid to write something original.
Jazs1994@reddit
It's a 00 programme, we've just followed 007 the whole time. Could easily do a minis series about the programme or the rest of the recruiting process
Beartato4772@reddit
Yeah, it's a code with a current incumbent. Proven when R (John Cleese) became Q when the previous Q (Desmond Llewelyn) died. We saw the same man as both.
The same happens to M, 00x and one presumes Moneypenny off screen,
Kinitawowi64@reddit
Q and M are job roles, not named individuals. James Bond isn't a job.
Beartato4772@reddit
It absolutely is. No chance James was any of their real names.
decker_42@reddit
LAAAAAANNNNAAAAAAAA
danger zone
illarionds@reddit
Same way (Peter Parker) Spiderman was a teenager/young adult in the 60s, and is still a young adult now. Comic book time, basically.
afroguy10@reddit
The alias theory doesn't work considering the number of times previous films, characters and actors are referred to in subsequent Bond actors films. The most obvious of which is Tracey Bond and her death in Lazenby's OHMSS being referenced in Connery, Moore and Dalton films.
PeterG92@reddit
"This never happened to the other fellow"
thatsacrackeryouknow@reddit
I mean it's a terrible alias since they've all used them, his name might as well be "Spy, MI6 Spy."
But I like to think in the wilds of grand arch nemsis it's more a "You, Fuck you." name.
Any-Republic-4269@reddit
Yeah it's like Dr Who, they just regenerate
populardonkeys@reddit
I don't care that my car explodes every 10,000 miles, I can just jump out the window beforehand.
Hame_Impala@reddit
Aye, if he can change his entire appearance to look like someone else entirely - usually a bit younger than the last guy - then bringing him back to life isn't particularly difficult.
JackXDark@reddit
He’s a Time Lord. Just show his regeneration.
Voeld123@reddit
Just wait till you get to number 13. What do you do then?
JackXDark@reddit
A wizard will reset them.
BanisienVidra@reddit
Perfect answer. Flashy gold sparks, new face, spends 15 minutes trying to deal with changes in limb shape. 100% believable.
CyndersParadigm@reddit
Kidneys! I've got new kidneys! I don't like the colour
Critcho@reddit
I don't believe this story, I think they're just making it up. The next one will obviously be a reboot, just like when Craig started and was suddenly on his first mission.
This is like saying "How on earth do we make a new Batman when he retired at the end of The Dark Knight Rises!?".
kraken6989@reddit
The batman analogy was exactly what I was going to say. Each time we get a new batman we dont say wait he's a different batman must be a code name or something. Its just a new batmans series/film. Sometimes its the same actor sometimes its not. Who cares? Just make a new bond film and be done with it.
truearse@reddit
Your not really the “fan” they’re appealing for, your forgetting bond set the standard for that genre, having him smoked like an NPC every movie takes away from the whole “super special sexy secret agent”
yolo_snail@reddit
Does it?
I don't watch Bond for the story line, I honestly couldn't even tell you what the story was in any Bond film.
truearse@reddit
Does it what? Set the standard? Yes…
Glass_Assistant_1188@reddit
You sound like you are gatekeeping.
truearse@reddit
Nope, that was the broccoli family who were the gatekeepers
SadSeiko@reddit
It might
eatlego@reddit
Is that just Captain Scarlet?
changhyun@reddit
Same here. Have the new actor stroll in, say something like "Sorry I'm late, I had some grave business to attend to" and then never explain. It's James Bond, I'll buy it.
dl064@reddit
I did enjoy that they really really insisted this film had to go to the cinemas and everyone then found out why.
silverfish477@reddit
Maybe until the Craig films. They had a very clear story running through them.
keeponyrmeanside@reddit
I’d actually never seen a Bond film until I went to see No Time To Die, and when he died I assumed that’s what always happened when they changed actor. And then I loudly and accidentally spoiled it for my husband and anyone sat near us at the pub that night.
Virtual-Product-9446@reddit
"OMG they killed Jimmy !"
Sirlacker@reddit
I always assumed each new actor for Bond was supposed to be a different character. Like 007 and James Bond were the code name given to that specific job opening and James Bond was basically the new identity they assumed when they got the role.
It just doesn't make sense otherwise. Not that it has to, at all. But that's how I'd play it out. I mean apart from obviously changing the canon of that fact, it seems an entirely plausible thing to do and I think everyone except die hard James Bond fans could come to terms with it.
DavidJonnsJewellery@reddit
Wouldn't that also make Felix Leiter or Blofeld just a code name as well. Kinda hard to have a sibling grudge against someone who isn't even anyone you've ever seen before
ChadTstrucked@reddit
A few years ago, there was a meme saying that Bond was the original timelord
ICantBelieveItsNotEC@reddit
Yeah, this. Bond isn't supposed to make sense or stand up to scrutiny of the """lore""" by internet film critics. There is no Bond cinematic universe, nor should there be.
The next movie should be straight into the action with a new Bond. Do not complain, do not explain.
No_Suit_9511@reddit
Totally agree. And particularly because it was Daniel Craig’s version of Bond that died. He’s not returning as the character so it matters even less.
GreenLion777@reddit
They were independent of each other until Quantum Of Solace, then Daniel Craig's version ran with the follow-up kind, covering his whole career.
Which was an interesting change, but we need to now go back to unrelated movies. Don't think repeating the Daniel Craig 007 era of covering the agents MI6 life is a good idea. Reboot in the vein of Connery/Moore etc, seperate films.
Maybe even, (and possibly not a popular idea), the odd remake of the old classic movies. But definitely not, remaking them all (like Disney seem to be with theirs)
jungleddd@reddit
Oh my god, they killed Jimmy!
Sausagedogknows@reddit
You bastards (pronounced barstards obviously)
nd1online@reddit
“OMG they kill Bond!” “You bastard!”
Blackmore_Vale@reddit
I always thought until the Craig films bind is a time lord. Each new or returning actor is a different regeneration.
Conscious-Ball8373@reddit
It's hard to see how this is a headache but they went from a 4-decade-old franchise to newly-recruited spy in Casino Royale without blinking.
L9GTX@reddit
Bond should also wear an orange parka and have very muffled speech.
rosstoferwho@reddit
Like Blackadder. It would be hilarious 😂
Dinner_and_a_Murder@reddit
They did mess up here. Daniel Craig’s Bond was a complete reboot of the franchise. They started with him making his double kills to become an 00 operative. We see his parents are Bonds in a tombstone, plus a temporary custody paper with his full name on it. Like many here, I thought 007 Bond was just a spy name that was taken up when the last one disappeared. But writers and producers all made clear that this wasn’t the case. Every Bond was the same person with different actors. Incidents and actions carried through all the movies, which is why you see one actor visiting the grave of the deceased wife of a previous actor.
But the history was getting long, which was the purpose of the reboot with Daniel Craig. I would like to know who’s not so “brilliant” idea it was to have us all watch him blow up! The point of this reboot was so we could see where he came from and give us a whole new start. It’s been easy to go from actor to actor playing Bond because they never killed him off.
I’d say just starting over again will just tick off the loyal viewers because we know Bond was killed off so anyone else couldn’t really be Bond. I could accept maybe his daughter growing up and becoming a 007 Bond. But unless they have some serious magical rescue we didn’t see, I won’t be buying another James Bond. That just messes with the whole same person they have been selling us for around 60 years!
philman132@reddit
James Bond has always been a reboot every time Bond changes actor. Just ignore it completely, it doesn't need to follow the modern trend of endless callbacks to previous films.
Belle_TainSummer@reddit
No it hasn't, that is fanon (not to mention fanwankery). Bond has had weak continuity, and a floating timeline, but it has had continuity nonetheless.
Calm_Interview4247@reddit
casino royale had black and white scene, no time to die had daltons car and portrait of old m's. all movies from dr no to never say never again to casino royale 6 to no time to die are sort of connected but not bounded in any sort of way. for all you know spectre and no time to die could be fever dream.
no need to explain, aside from callback"you were mumbling in your fever dream, heard you had a child"
Striking_Smile6594@reddit
Exactly, there's nothing wrong with little throwaway fun references to his previous exploits, but it should be necessary to watch the films in a particular order. Each film needs to be it's own thing.
Belle_TainSummer@reddit
Opening line: "I'm glad to see you are feeling better 007, that burn treatment must've been gruelling"
"Not as hard as that other..."
"Yes, quite, I'm sorry the girl didn't turn out to be your after all"
"Quite, M, you have a job for me"
"Indeed, now pay attention Double Oh Seven"
And that is how to do it.
Despite what the wankfans have said, the Bond series has always had internal continuity that it depended on. A weak continuity, with a floating timeline, but the same Bond we met in a Casino in Dr No was still the same Bond all the way through to the end of Die Another Day, and that works for the franchise. That wank about "ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh its a codenaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame" stupidity was never in continuity, and the new movie needs to keep that and fold blond-Bond down into it.
Hitting the reboot button will not work, nor will trying another prequel, or standalone period piece, or any of that bullshit, they just go back to basics, mention the last adventure in passing, give an implausible-plausible explanation as to why it doesn't matter and have Bond do an incredible stunt in an exotic location.
Calm_Interview4247@reddit
spectre and no time to die are hullicinations of james bond.
GoodTato@reddit
The whole "it's a codename ooouhghh" thing was disproven back with the first time they HAD another actor - Lazenby's Bond reminiscing about stuff Connery's Bond did.
Unless Q can transplant memories and combat experience or something. But that's getting a bit too Metal Gear at that point.
notyourcupofteamate@reddit
Having watched it back, the explosion isn't really that catastrophic. In the time he was talking he could have slid down the cliff, or just scooted to the greenery out the back which is hardly touched lol
Jwhitness007@reddit
Don’t need them to revive a dead bond, just have a adventure
Broken_Vision_Rhythm@reddit
What kind of useless screenwriters can’t think up a James Bond movie? James Bond has to stop a terrorist from activating a super secret continent destroying weapons system, along the way he also does the sex with a sexy lady with a silly name like Areola Pussystroker. Easy peasy.
Acerhand@reddit
So they can cast bond as a woman or something and say “james died in the last movie!!”
Mother_Ad7869@reddit
Easy Peasy would also be a fantastic name for a midget henchman 🤗😆
Youutternincompoop@reddit
Easy Leigh would be a great Bond girl name.
Throwaway91847817@reddit
Or “Alotta Fagina” from Austin Powers
CheesyLala@reddit
He could be Japanese-y too :-)
No_Atmosphere8146@reddit
Opening scene, he's squeezing lemons into a glass, which he drinks neat to prove his toughness.
smedsterwho@reddit
Amazing! Here's $500,000 and a bag of cocaine. go make the script.
bored_toronto@reddit
This thread is ABSOLUTE CINEMA
Odd_Presentation8624@reddit
Twin midget henchmen!
That Bond dispatches immediately, with a suitable quip.
Standard-Reason9399@reddit
Or a really, really big one?
Ok_Finance_2001@reddit
Probably being constrained some busy body at Amazon who demands that the script needs to leave room to expand to a an prequel film establishing how Q got his name, a TV series for Moneypenny, a tragic backstory for Dr No so there can also be a film for him. Oh and also Bond can't do any Bond things for 99% of the film until the end of the film where he shoots the camera, thus finally becoming "James Bond" which sets up the sequel.
plastic_alloys@reddit
Q brings in all the gadgets in Amazon Prime boxes
Kinitawowi64@reddit
Q is a job title, not a name. It means quartermaster.
Ok_Finance_2001@reddit
Great. Expand that idea to an hour and half and we've got a film that won't cover half it's costs but will allow the Vice-president of Customer Experience to buy a new boat.
TheMissingThink@reddit
There's room for a historical drama too. The origin of the first "James Bond". Set in the Napoleonic era perhaps?
bored_toronto@reddit
"We have Sharpe at home".
Phlebas99@reddit
Master and Commander Bond
confusedbookperson@reddit
And there's a sassy sidekick who does most of the 'badass' moments and also the comic relief to show how Bond is 'current'.
Leucurus@reddit
Moneypenny TV series does seem like the sort of thing they'd do.
HailToTheKingslayer@reddit
Casino Royale was a reboot, right? Just do like that.
Youutternincompoop@reddit
do another Thunderball reboot, fuck it.
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
Weren't they getting Denis Villeneuve to direct it? Can't remember who they were getting for writers
HashDefTrueFalse@reddit
Gonna need to see the Deed Poll on that one because I refuse to believe it's a birth name.
OrangeBeast01@reddit
I had only seen one Bond film (Godeneye, Xenia Onatopp) so thought Alotta Fagina was just way too exaggerated to be funny.
Then I heard about Pussy Galore.
therealhairykrishna@reddit
That was my thought. My 8 year old could write a bond film. Although it would probably have less "kissy bits" and there definitely would be a henchman who looked a lot like Jaws.
TheCatLamp@reddit
You won me on the Areola Pussystroker.
How can we collectively finance this?
Brendissimo@reddit
Don't they always just partially or totally reset continuity between each actor anyway? I'm confused why this is an issue. Do they think audiences believe that bond is a 90+ year old man whose physical appearance keeps changing? (Which would be the case if it was literally the same character since Connery)
Just recast the character and reintroduce a new version of him. The harder part, I would think, is finding an actor and a tone which is distinct from Craig, as well as a new thematic framing for the first movie. Can't do "rookie Bond" because that's what Casino Royale did in 2006.
CalafiorisL0cks@reddit
Have they signed all the other actors up to long deals? Why can't they just start again after a 4yr break
Any-Republic-4269@reddit
He just wakes up and they have a cure for the nano blood thing and it's a different actor but who gives a f because then he's leaping onto a helicopter to kill Blofeld's cat
Nobody_Cares_99@reddit
I really fail to see the problem with them just rebooting the whole thing. Start from scratch, make an original Bond film in a different style and move on.
Plastic_Library649@reddit
I don't see the problem. Fleming killed him off twice, and just brought him back again with a bit of a fudge.
People are so obsessed with lore now, it means good stories get buried under layers of fanwank.
dbxp@reddit
Fully lean into the product placement and just have him working for Sony performing industrial espionage against Samsung
populardonkeys@reddit
The stakes are high as Bond smooshes another Samsung executive at a hotel roof bar. His secret weapon? A bowtie that spins around.
No_Atmosphere8146@reddit
"Thish plashe ish a mesh. Pash me the Dyshon Shyclone Vacuum, Moneypenny. It's shuperb."
Alas_boris@reddit
Whist downing bottles of Heineken
fantasticvinyl@reddit
I just don’t think they need to go into another ‘how he became 007’ storyline. I just have the horrific feeling they’re going to go with a 20 year old babyface American putting on an English accent in the next ones.
New_Effective_2696@reddit
This is obvious, you set the film in 1955 and work onwards from there. There's no place for Bond in 2025, unless he can turn into a drone or a cyber hacker.
SpectralDinosaur@reddit
Absolutely nothing. You don't need to reboot anything because James Bond has always played fast and loose with canon.
All they need to do is cast a new Bond and have him walk into M's office at the start of the film to receive his mission. They don't need to acknowledge No Time To Die (or really ANY other Bond film) at all.
LowNo1046@reddit
Reboot during the Cold War.
SifodyasMasterPlan@reddit
Was Daniel Craig not just a usual reboot but his films had a kinda overall arc....just reboot it again....simple
RaymondBumcheese@reddit
Nothing. I'd just completely ignore the previous 20 years. Just go back to it being standalone adventures and pretend that brief continuity snarl up never happened. Literally nobody cares who his parents are or where he lived as a child.
See also: Doctor Who
Kazimierz777@reddit
I do? It’s canonical in the Fleming books that Bond is an orphan of Scottish-Swiss ancestry.
RaymondBumcheese@reddit
Literally one person cares who his parents are or where he lived as a child
HornyOompaLoompas@reddit
Exactly this. Forget Daniel Craig's Bond (love daniel craig as an actor btw) and go back to Pierce Brosnan and before Bond, with fun gadgets and flamboyant villains, basically just bring back everything that made the Bond movies what they were instead of Daniel Craigs Bond which were pretty much just really expensive generic action movies.
I'm 100% sure that's what Daniel Craig signed on to do and was hugely disappointed when one day they sat him down after signing contracts and said to him 'you know we're actually thinking of going in another direction with the Bond films'
Harrry-Otter@reddit
There’s a reason why they changed it though. Some of the Brosnan era films were pretty bad and filled with ludicrous gadgets and storylines (invisible cars anyone?).
Then the Bourne films came out and everyone wanted their spy films to be at least partially based in reality, with semi-believable villains and gritty fight scenes. IMO they did a good job with the Craig films making Bond look like a somewhat believable government assassin closer to the book Bond.
That said, those type of films are a bit overdone now so who knows what the next iteration of Bond will be, but with the ongoing presence of Marvel and superhero films, I’d be surprised if they wanted to go back to the magic gadget days and just make the character look like a British Ironman.
RaymondBumcheese@reddit
The problem, I suspect, is that now Amazon have bought it they will pretty much demand a BCU which will involve copious amounts of lore and interwoven continuity, unfortunately. Especially since Citadel turned out to be absolute dogshit.
Harrry-Otter@reddit
In theory, a “Bond Universe” could work. You could have a slower, more tense and more espionage themed series something closer the Le Carre books and subsequent adaptations, or even use it as a way to have stories set during the Cold War brought into the more modern “Bond” setting.
Although given Amazon’s recent struggles with big name franchises, I’d probably be more worried that I would be optimistic.
Opposite-Mediocre@reddit
Be brilliant if they could put it into the proper spy thrillers of the world wars or cold war. We have some absolute classic films in them genres. Dive into the espionage stuff over out and out action.
Might not do as well in the box office but could make for a good twist of films.
alibythesea@reddit
Maybe Amazon could swing a crossover deal with Apple TV+. Bond gets demoted to Slough House and butts heads with Jackson Lamb. Hijinks ensue.
RaymondBumcheese@reddit
Yeah. Hopefully the MCU has shown that you should keep the main movies separate from the production line spin offs but them not just going 'screw it, clean break' in not exactly a good sign.
spinynorman1846@reddit
I can't wait for the wacky Q kids series, the gritty M police procedural and Moneypenny, a romcom where she dates multiple 00 agents. And you'll have to watch them all if you want to have any idea what's going on in any of the films.
AllAvailableLayers@reddit
You missed out Double O-cademy, the young-adult drama about the training of spies in their late teens (played by attractive, diverse 20-somethings). Filmed around a British manor house, a mixture of villain-of-the-week storylines and love triangles.
MaskedBunny@reddit
And then there's the campy series following the crazy mis-advantages of double oh 69.
bored_toronto@reddit
Felix Leiter Adventures: Ivy League hijinks ensue as a young Felix is admitted to Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Whatever.
eairy@reddit
Amazon: Write that down, write that down!
rueval@reddit
It’s quite clear Amazon can’t be trusted with anything
Harrry-Otter@reddit
The Fallout series was pretty good, as was The Boys. They’ve had some misses as well, but what big studio is churning out pure quality?
mdmnl@reddit
Perhaps the most egregious "ready-made spinoffs and hangers-on" attempt at a franchise.
Kyderman@reddit
But the weird shit was why we loved it. Austin Powers made a success off the same fun.
Craig was dry and tried to be grounded, bond never was.
ibiacmbyww@reddit
Pivoting to a superhero-adjacent Bond now would be like making a Western Bond back in the Roger Moore era: doable, potentially, but too late to the trend.
What the new Bond could be keeps me up at night, and I say that as someone who doesn't give a shit about those movies.
What movies and TV we make is a reflection of us. It's no coincidence that everything got super serious and angsty for over a decade, following 9/11. We wanted morally reprehensible protagonists torturing people for information, jingoism, and, weirdly, a lot of sadistic gameshows.
Right now, the world is in the middle of a sea change. To boil it down to its core, it's fascism vs. not-fascism. This has been reflected beautifully in the form of Hope Porn, reconstructionism, and the like; confirming what we all already knew, the writers are mostly coming down on the side of not-fascism. Peacemaker, Ted Lasso, Our Flag Means Death, Barry, and Doom Patrol spring to mind.
So what does the next iteration of Bond look like?
Easy. Bring the contrast up a bit, and make it a reconstruction of old tropes. A shoe phone is useful when it's made out of material that doesn't set off metal detectors. Nobody would expect a gondola hovercraft, or a single-use jetpack, or a rocket launching pen. And that's the angle - Bond isn't the superspy whatever, those people don't exist, all-told you've got maybe a handful of missions in the field before your face becomes known to every criminal worth avoiding, he's the oddball (oddjob?). The one who, completely po-faced, comes up with insane but brilliantly effective solutions and then actions them in the field (courtesy of Q). No improvised scrap stuff, that's not the point, all sleek, all gorgeous, but all niche and completely useless to anyone else.
More importantly, the why of what Bond is doing needs to be chosen carefully. "Defending our oil" wore thin before Harambe got shot. Basically, the British government as portrayed on film needs to be utterly unlike its real-world incarnation and be doing things for the betterment of people, rather than cynically protecting itself.
pleasedtoheatyou@reddit
I think they've also said that Austin Powers was a huge part of it. I think its easy to forget now that Austin Powers was so successful at the time and it so perfectly skewered so many of what were essentially James Bond tropes.
I can't remember precisely, but I'm sure there was someone involved who said it kind of made it impossible to continue doing Bond in the old way because it had become impossible to take seriously.
BaritBrit@reddit
Daniel Craig himself has said that about Austin Powers, I think. Made sense when they were rebooting Casino Royale in 2005 - the Powers films were all still in very immediate memory at the time.
Their cultural weight now is much, much lesser, given that we're now as far away from the original Austin Powers as that film itself was from the 1960s it portrayed as a distant past.
DontTellHimPike1234@reddit
Agreed. I rather like the grittier, more real, Daniel Craig incarnation of Bond. I've got time for the more flamboyant 70s Roger Moore bonds, the OG Sean Connery and even Dalton and Brosnan as well, but the Daniel Craig story arc was brilliant, IMO.
Maleficent-Drive4056@reddit
Exactly. Brosnan era took Bond to its logical conclusion (and beyond). A reset was needed. People wanted 'authenticity'. I agree it's time for a reboot, and I do get that not everybody wants continuity, but I think the Craig era did work quite well.
_lippykid@reddit
Gadgets were super popular up until the late 90’s too. People were obsessed with Brookestone,, Sharper Image etc. now it’s hard to impress people when they all have a versatile super computer in your pocket. Same deal with cars too. Regular people drove noticeably cheaper looking/feeling cars pre 2000’s too. Now they all kinda look alike, have similar screens and drive a lot better. Obviously there’s exceptions, but the average car nowadays isn’t a total piece of crap deathbox like back then
greg225@reddit
These things come in cycles - we're due for a Bond that's a bit more 'fun', after 15-20 years of things being gritty and serious, but eventually we'll want a change back again. People love to dunk on the Marvel films for their humour and tone, I won't argue with them but I think some people forget that it was actually something of a relief at the time, and it was a big reason why they caught on like they did. I heard a lot of praise for Dune for how seriously it took itself and how it didn't really have any quips (well, maybe one or two), but that's because it came after a couple of decades of films trying to copy Marvel.
In Bond's case, it's also worth considering that the Austin Powers films taking the piss was also a big factor in the shift. After a trilogy of parody films you can't just... do that same thing.
gyroda@reddit
We had the Kingsman films for a bit of this.
Hardcore_Gentleness@reddit
This doesn't add up though. He signed up for three films initially and the talk at the time was of the studio wanting to do a grittier, more grounded Bond - hence why they went for Daniel Craig, who was fresh off Layer Cake. Had they pitched him on continuing in the cartoony Brosnan tradition and not followed through, why would DC have signed up for more Bond films when his contract was up?
HornyOompaLoompas@reddit
Hardcore_Gentleness@reddit
He sold out by...signing up to make a more nuanced and realistic version of a Bond?
HornyOompaLoompas@reddit
I didn't say he sold out, I just replied why he signed on to do more Bond films. Nobody is turning down the kind of money they offered him.
Hardcore_Gentleness@reddit
I think you're thinking too hard about a situation people have correctly explained elsewhere in this thread.
MixGroundbreaking622@reddit
I personally can't stand the Craig films. They are more like Jason Bourne than James Bond. I want crazy gadgets, dad jokes, fun villains in exotic locations and lots of banging.
dwhite21787@reddit
I want a submersible TVR emerging from the Seine to chase a French supervillain through Paris at 90 mph.
You know, something fabulously impossible
Visa5e@reddit
A tvr on the back of a recovery truck that's chasing the supervillain, more like.
TheSwagBag@reddit
Johnny English vibes with his Aston on the back of the recovery truck lol, looks like I'm watching that again tonight!
bored_toronto@reddit
I would watch this. And Bond hands a soggy baguette to an amazed onlooker with a Gauloise about to fall from his mouth.
Pr6srn@reddit
So much fibreglass on a TVR, you'd need lead weights to make it submerge.
daddywookie@reddit
That is not the most significant problem with using a TVR in that scenario
nosniboD@reddit
It wouldn't fire up before going in the water, let alone after it
cosmic_monsters_inc@reddit
All topped off with a sexy pun.
HydraulicTurtle@reddit
Completely disagree. They were brilliantly executed action films with great acting, and engaging storylines for the most part.
I don't think going back to jacket zorbs and submersibles will have much traction these days. The standards of film making have changed, and technological expectations have changed.
There is a reason they moved away from that in the first place, and it wasn't because they're party poopers.
TheCatLamp@reddit
We will never have another Pussy Galore tho.
AggravatingStreet660@reddit
Austin Powers really cornered this market for puns.
greatlilusername@reddit
There's a nice theory that James Bond films are really just a reflection of whatever the current cinema trend is:
Quantum of Solace - Jason Borne films were big so they copied the over the top action and no gadgets
Moonraker - Star Wars had just come out, so James Bond goes to space
There's more, I just forgot what they were, but they've always just copied current trend with a recognisable Character.
AndyJWM@reddit
Casino Royale is my favourite Bond film, closely followed by Dr No. Weird I know.
ProtoplanetaryNebula@reddit
I was brought up on repeats of old bond films. I agree, the older films are where it’s at. Later the films become something entirely different.
WillyPete@reddit
"Right then Smith, here's your cover dossier. You will assume this cover, learn everything by heart. Your life may depend on it."
opens folder.
"Director; Universal Exports.
Bond, Jame... Wait, isn't he the one who.."
"Yes, he was that one.
The one before him too, and a few more you've never heard of.
You have a lot in common, so it should be easy to remember. Both orphaned at a fairly young age. Private schools.
M tends to favour those types. No dreary letters to write to families I suppose.
You're next to wear the crown. Or target. Whichever way you prefer to think of it.
Make sure you say the name frequently, so people remember hearing it.
When we hear questions about you from persons of interest, then we know you're getting closer to the sources.
It'll help to spread disinformation.
As far as our opponents know, you're immortal. Don't worry too much about it, it keeps them guessing.
Just remember to bring the bloody car back in one piece."
ResplendentBear@reddit
People definitely care about Doctor Who continuity. Strange, strange people.
RaymondBumcheese@reddit
In the case of Dr Who, they just need to cut it off like a rotten limb and start doing self contained stories for a bit. Its absolutely baffling that the show runners expect people watching a kids show to know who some random idiot who last appeared 50 years ago is.
VFiddly@reddit
The problem is they're trying to please both the people who have never seen the show before but also the people who desperately want to see the return of some character who hasn't been seen for 40 years
To be fair, Jodie Whittaker's first series was entirely disconnected from what came before, and it was the worst series of the whole reboot.
Personal-Listen-4941@reddit
So I’m a nerd. I enjoy Doctor Who. I’ve even watched the old Black & White episodes. I have an above average interest in physics, specifically those relating to Quantum/time travel.
I struggled to follow the most recent series of Doctor Who.
There’s a reason viewership is dropping off a cliff, several actually but this is a main one, you shouldn’t need to read multiple articles to understand the plot of a light teatime adventure show.
bored_toronto@reddit
Also a Dr Who enjoyer (grew up with the Classic series from late Tom Baker). They should, you know, go back to history stories as the main character travels in time...
confusedbookperson@reddit
It's increasingly got the MCU problem of basically having to do a bunch of homework watching other episodes to really get the story. I often think the way forward is more of a horror themed slant on the show with longer but fewer episodes to showcase new and inventive ideas, rather than the same old retread.
SixCardRoulette@reddit
I'm having this problem with the Marvel movies recently, feeling a bit lost because I need to have watched 15 other films and several Disney+TV series to know who that guy is and any further context for why he has a beef with that other lady.
I don't think Craig's Bond could have lasted another movie anyway without becoming similarly encrusted with lore baggage, all the important plot continuation points in No Time to Die were already borderline incomprehensible if you hadn't seen the last two films.
EchoesofIllyria@reddit
Eh, Doctor Who spends much more time and effort linking all the eras and Doctors together than Bond does. And it’s explicitly the same character throughout.
So it’s not really a fair comparison, even though I agree that looking for outright, linear continuity in Doctor Who is a fool’s errand.
That_Northern_bloke@reddit
Wibbly wobbly timey wimey and all that
Putrid_Form_9223@reddit
You a cultaholic fan?
Belle_TainSummer@reddit
You mean the series that just crashed itself into the wall so hard all the ratings fell out and it going to have to go on hiatus again explicitly because it broke too hard from its past continuity? Genius advice there, chief, sheer genius.
RaymondBumcheese@reddit
It ratings fell because it sucked. And broke too hard from past continuity? They dug up a villain for the final arc last seen in the 80s. I don't really want to argue about Dr Who on the internet as I don't have a bag of Doritos and a bottle of Mountain Dew handy but it not leaning hard enough into continuity is an absolutely insane take.
Belle_TainSummer@reddit
Now you know that recurring villains have never been a problem in Who, and you also know that it is the personal continuity of the lead character that was what Chibnall broke. You are engaging in a bad faith take here, and you know it.
EchoesofIllyria@reddit
You’re not exactly wrong, but the show was haemorrhaging viewers before the Timeless Child reveal. And if RTD2 had been better, Chibnall’s era could easily have been seen as just a blip.
RaymondBumcheese@reddit
Something working in the past doesnt mean it isn't currently damaging. The show is eating itself because its too caught up in lore, obscure continuity vagaries and past glories and, unfortunately, that also includes a production team from the salad days trying to force a 20 year old formula to work again.
I mean, it is what it is. The last few series absolutely sucked for a wide variety of reasons but not being deep into the continuity enough is very clearly not one of them.
Belle_TainSummer@reddit
It is because they are throwing memberberries at the screen to try and win back the previous base without tackling the central issue that has driven them away.
And also to distract a few gullible idiots who will be happy to do the production team's work for them in distracting from the central issue by blaming the memberberries too.
knight-under-stars@reddit
Doctor Who crashed because it was a pile of shite, not because it broke from past continuity.
CheesyLala@reddit
100% this. If I'm watching a Bond film I don't want 'back story'. I don't want 'relevance'.
I want escapism.
Time4Wasting@reddit
Just make 007 the designation, not the man ... also explains why he looks different every few films. Also means you can kill of/retire the main star every so offten instead of constant plot armour. You are now 007. Your name is James/Jane Bond. Your previous existence has been removed from the official record. I you die in service, you will die unknown and your service to the nation unrecognised. If you live long enough to retire, you will be issued a new identity and will be unable to go back to your privous life. Do you accept these terms ?
CaptCriollo@reddit
I’d call it On His Majesty’s Secret Service
DoctorWhofan789eywim@reddit
Why does anything need to be done? There's no continuity, why is this change of actor any different to the others?
thesockpuppetaccount@reddit
Because between various films there’s always been a shred of continuity.
General Gogol between Moore and Dalton
Moore’s bond visiting the grave of lazenby’s wife.
The same felix leiter between Moore and dalton.
Quarrel and his son quarrel jr between Connery and Moore.
With Daniel Craig’s bond. You had similar continuity.
The same actress playing M. The Walther P99 in casino royale picked up from tomorrow never dies.
One cannot simply ignore decades of continuity threads, continue it through casting then kill off the main character and then try to wrap it up as a self contained thing.
If you wanted to that you needed to start with at the very least a fresh m and a ppk.
No wonder they’ve got writers block.
Slothjitzu@reddit
Id argue you can ignore decades of continuity threads precisely because doing the opposite is ludicrous.
Bond has had half a dozen different faces, as has his supporting crew, and he's closing in on 70 years as an active agent.
Frankly, pretending that these films are all connected instead of just writing it off as previous directors' errors is the dumb idea here.
thesockpuppetaccount@reddit
The original films are based on the novels. The novels are narratively intended to be a single character.
The actual spread of the films for practical reasons stretched it out for an implausible length of time.
The later films have then carried on within the same floating timeline.
Bond evolves and the world moves on but he remains a constant by narrative desire.
The film maker has the flex to take the narrative in largely anyway they choose, lord knows they’ve made enough use of it over the years.
That said recasting an actor to play the same character is not the same as killing the character and then trying to write a new actor into it.
It’s like killing Peter Parker and then trying to rewrite a new Peter Parker to be spider man.
It can be done, of course it can, but it requires creativity.
Slothjitzu@reddit
I just don't see the point in doing it, or even doing another Bond film even if he hadn't died.
In a world full of tired franchises, Bond is the absolute peak of Mount "let it die already".
lonehorizons@reddit
Do you think he should be about 99 years old in the next film then? ;)
setokaiba22@reddit
Aside from Craig’s Bond dying it’s easy to continue by just ignoring it either recast M and such do a new iteration or continue but it’s a new Bond (acting as a code name sort of) and nobody will really complain
thesockpuppetaccount@reddit
I would agree with you had they not tied bond so tightly into not being a code name.
Skyfall, removed that option. They destroyed his ancestral home, showed his parents graves and had a game keeper who knew him as James Bond.
They’ve written themselves into a corner.
The way I see it is they’ve got three options.
A) ignore it and just go new bond ring fence DCs films as a self contained thing. Which is a criminal way to leave some of the great breadcrumbs they’ve left. IMO.
B) bond escapes. Surprise.
C) a post bond world in the same continuity where both bond and 007 are code names for the same person
I’m hoping for C.
ChrisBatty@reddit
Canonise the theory they Jane’s bond is a title passed on from one agent to another, perhaps have a previous retired bond or two pop up to train the newest to be given the title - this would also allow for Jane’s bonds that look very different from previous ones.
lonehorizons@reddit
No one tell them he’s been the same age since the 60s, they’ll freak out!
Federal-Research-148@reddit
Isn’t “James bond” a pseudonym anyway? You can have multiple agents assigned that name. What the fuck are they complaining about?
tomatobasilgarlic@reddit
The real issue is its hard to have a womanizer character post-weinstein in any movie.
In the last bond for example they had ana de amas character being their inexperienced but badass latino agent, in any other bond that relationship lasts the movie and they fuck but instead she was inserted into the story purely just to have some strong female success in the first act.
Also if you have it so bond can’t fuck they had to do the next trick of making a macho character and made him a dad, you can’t have him as a dad ever again. Therefore he either goes back to fucking and you get the negative press and feelings are hurt/the newspapers label certain scenes as rape scenes (yes this happened in skyfall) or you do something drastic with the concept i.e. take it back to the 60s(sponsors ala heineken wouldnt allow this as they pay for the films production) or you change the character
zebra1923@reddit
The Daniel Craig movies started with going back to his first kill, which would predate many of the Connery, Moore, Dalton and other films, so there is precedence going back in time, in this case you just go back to a point before his death.
ReySpacefighter@reddit
I don't see how there's a struggle. Just start another canon again. The current Bond can't be the same Bond as the 1960s anyway.
s1pp3ryd00dar@reddit
Meh, they could just reboot "You only live Twice"
Bond was kind of killed in that and resurrected.
Just to make it more ridiculous, get Q to download his consciousness into another body. Sorted.
Although Blofeld's dead, which is another headache, maybe have his consciousness transferred into some computer Ai network that attacks military systems and starts off a Terminator judgement day a situation, Lol.
/s
Wheresmymindoffto@reddit
007 is the agent. James bond is 007. Now he's dead 007 should be the next agent in that role. They should James's brother Uni a chance.
Slothjitzu@reddit
Just can the fucking franchise.
It's a basic bitch concept that honestly holds no real special sauce outside pure nostalgia.
Every Bond film I've ever seen could just as easily be any other espionage-action film and the majority of espionage-action films I've ever seen could just as easily be a Bond film.
Hollywood, and by extension the general public, needs to get a grip on films being made because the script and plot is good rather than because it's attached to a existing and valuable IP.
siybon@reddit
They'll have to go full MI and make out that it was just a disguise and it was M in James Bond prosthetics.
Hefty_Anywhere_8537@reddit
I'd set it in the late 60's. Cold war classic, the alcoholic, chain smoking, womanising bastard he was. Not in a glory sense, but accurate to how the character and the time was.
Professional_Ad6822@reddit
Start with them recruiting the orphaned kid. Give him the alias and off you pop. New film.
sillydog80@reddit
Of all the problems in the world, this is the most solvable. Bond franchise literally invented the soft reboot: just pretend none of that stuff happened.
C-i-d@reddit
Easy: we all just agree that piece of shit last film never actually happened.
Pink-socks@reddit
I mean, he's agent 007, which means there's at least 998 more agents to make a film about. But ing on 006, the middle aged agent who's had enough of this shit and is just plodding along until retirement until one day he is assigned a case which changes him forever. He meets an attractive lady whom he flirts with on a sunny island, he chases bad guys in a car which used to be British but now owned by an Eastern Conglomerate, he discovers a plot by a bad guy to overthrow the government,and tries to thwart it by using some groovy, high tech gadgets, he narrowly avoids being killed but continues the chase, he never giv s up. He overcomes his fears, he learns something about himself and his v n though in the end h doesn't get the girl, he discovers that true happiness comes from within instead of searching for external validation through meaningless relationships.
Dic_Penderyn@reddit
Why are they struggling? It used to be that we never looked at the old Bond films as continuing where the last one left off, but as stand alone films in their own right. They just need to get back to that mindset.
Kyderman@reddit
Nice try Hollywood
Curious_Peter@reddit
Opening scene, a minimalist office looking out over the Thames, the only furniture A glass desk, on which is a small wooden box, a sealed leather bound binder, and a pen, sat behind it is a plain looking middle aged man, dressed in a smart, but not overly expensive suit, the type of person you would pass in the streets of London and not notice, which is exactly what they want.
A figure walks into the office and the person behind the desk instructs the figure walking in to sit down and simply states,
"You have passed all the fitness and Psychology tests, and we have confirmed your last mission resulted in both your targets being eliminated"
They slide the wooden box across the desk
"From now on you will be know as" they open the leather bound binder and examine the details.
The agent opens the box to find Walther PPK and an identity document with a name on it.
"James Bond. by the time you leave this office Your entire civilian and military records will have been changed to reflect this. Agent 7, Welcome to 00 Branch"
Camera pans around to reveal the actors face.
Cue the Bond Theme
One_Economics3627@reddit
Do we need a reboot? Have they considered that?
expostulation@reddit
Bond has a long lost daughter. BAM - FEMALE BOND.
1_glitter@reddit
Go back to a vintage time line ( but that won't sell new Aston Martins or other products)
Arf234@reddit
I understand they want it to be a modern day young actor but i think they should make a trilogy of period pieces starting in the mid 60s and ending in the early 80s
trevpr1@reddit
So he got out alive. They dust him off, give him a new face with plastic surgery, and shove him out the door of MI5 a new man. It is hardly difficult.
Elihub11@reddit
I'd reboot it to 1956 -1962. The period the books were set and make it cold war but glamourous..
Dyrenforth@reddit
Just don't reference it, start with the new guy and business as usual. Craig's final outing was a pile of garbage anyway. It's best forgotten.
gw74@reddit
finally starting to dawn on them that James Bond is done. The stories have been told. The only way forward is a female bond.
YesIAmRightWing@reddit
Reboot in the cold war
TheReduxProject@reddit
I propose that, from now on, James should die at the end of every movie, like Æon Flux.
BumblebeeForward9818@reddit
He died at the end of the From Russia With Love book. Temporarily anyway. It’s not hard.
joehonestjoe@reddit
I consider, and have always considered Craig as Bond as an alternative timeline, so there's historic Bond and modern era Bond. It shows his beginning and end, though they could have done much more with the middle.
For me, they could go back to the next Bond continuing on from the Die Another Day timeline, which is of course relatively lose anyway in terms of continuity.
I don't really need another Bond origin, just stick a Bond into a predicament please. I don't need any real continuity for Bond.
Maritimewarp@reddit
Reboot it with our intrepid hero now being Iranian, and trying to thwart the meddling British baddies.
rossysaurus@reddit
Use some of the other 00-agents instead. Or reuse 007 again. The films mention 00-agents have a high turnover and the names are often reused. Thunderball featured about 9 of them, and none of them were persistent throughout the franchise.
002 Bill Fairbanks was killed in The man with the golden gun, Then a different 002 named John was killed in the living daylights.
003 was a woman in Thunderball, then a dead man in A view to a Kill.
006 was in unnamed in Thunderball but named Alec Trevalon in Goldeneye
009 was in Thunderball, killed in Octopussy, then another 009 appeared in The world is not enough, then mentioned in Spectre.
sandblown@reddit
The new bond could be old bond love child also called James. From one of the Bond girls there could be an emotional recruitment scene some love hate feelings to his father he never had. We would get to see new bond rise through training and getting his 2 kills to become 007. - Solved it Amazon you can send me the writers fee!
bernys@reddit
Why go anywhere near the 007 moniker at all?
Why not 006 or 008 or anyone of the other "Licensed to kill" agents that might have existed in the service at any point in time.
Intelligence operatives have been embedded with military operations for a long period of time, so why not expand on that? Why not look at some of the grittier side of intelligence.. hanging outside of a nightclub for months listening to conversations of other drunken service personnel trying to build a picture....
Loose_Loquat9584@reddit
They should do a movie that covers the mission that he’s on in the pre-credits sequence in one of the old movies.
Abacus_Mode@reddit
Glad you asked…
FADE IN: INT. HOTEL ROOM – NIGHT A luxurious hotel room is in disarray. The lifeless body of a middle-aged man lies prone on the floor, blood pooling around his head.
JAMES BOND (40s, ruggedly handsome, impeccably dressed) stands over the body, a smoking gun still in his hand. His face is a mask of grim realisation.
Suddenly, the door bursts open, and a team of MI5 AGENTS floods the room. Bond barely reacts as they fan out, securing the scene. The tension is palpable.
AGENT #1 Sir, step away from the body.
(Bond complies, stepping back as the agents move in.)
The crowd parts as M (60s, authoritative, a figure of British stoicism) strides in, a look of cold anger etched across their face.
M (voice clipped) Do you have any idea what you’ve done, 007?
Bond’s expression remains unchanged. He knows he’s made a mistake.
M (CONT’D) You’ve just killed a CIA asset, one of our deepest infiltrators inside Russian intelligence.
Bond’s jaw tightens. He holsters his gun, but the damage is done.
MONTAGE – STRIPPING OF BOND’S STATUS
INT. MI5 HEADQUARTERS – DAY Bond stands before a tribunal, his 00 status revoked in a humiliating ceremony.
INT. OFFICE CORRIDOR – DAY An HR representative hands a file marked “CONFIDENTIAL” to M. Behind closed doors, the establishment debates Bond’s future.
INT. LOCKER ROOM – DAY Bond removes his 00 insignia from his locker. His face is set, a storm brewing behind his eyes.
EXT. LONDON STREET – DAY Bond steps out of the headquarters, his expression steely, his future uncertain.
EXT. LONDON STREET – MORNING – a few weeks later,a dreary London morning. The sky is overcast, and rain drizzles down in a cold, persistent mist.
BOND, sharply dressed in a tailored overcoat, walks purposefully through the crowded streets. His surroundings are a far cry from the exotic locales to which he is accustomed.
He approaches a run-down building, its exterior in dire need of maintenance. A faded sign reads:
"SLOUGH HOUSE".
Bond heads down a narrow alleyway, sidestepping puddles, then ascends a rusty fire escape to a side entrance.
INT. SLOUGH HOUSE – CONTINUOUS The inside is a stark contrast to MI5 headquarters. Paint peels from the walls, and a faint smell of dampness lingers. As Bond strides past a row of cluttered desks, the few occupants look up. Their expressions shift from curiosity to concern as they recognise him.
He makes his way to a door marked “JACKSON LAMB, OFFICE”, ignoring the anxious glances of a junior clerk who starts to rise from his seat.
CLERK (excitedly) Excuse me, sir, you can’t just—
Before the clerk can finish, Bond is already opening the door.
INT. JACKSON LAMB’S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS The office is a chaotic mess: stacks of papers, unopened files, and several empty takeaway cartons scattered across a cluttered desk. The occupant of the office, JACKSON LAMB (50s, dishevelled, unshaven, thick glasses), is seated in a worn leather chair, a lit cigarette dangling from his lips.
The chair swivels around to reveal Lamb’s sardonic grin.
LAMB (casually) Well, well... James Bond. I’ve been expecting you.
(Lamb takes a swig from a half-empty glass of whisky on his desk, his eyes never leaving Bond’s.)
BOND (flatly) Jackson.
LAMB (smirks) Don’t look so surprised. When MI5 drops its troublemakers, they tend to roll downhill... and land right here at Slough House.
Bond remains standing, his face a picture of barely contained frustration. Lamb raises his glass in a mock toast and finishes the contents.
LAMB (CONT’D) Welcome to the land of the slow horses. Standish will show you round the paddock…
Bond’s eyes narrow as he takes in the full measure of the man before him, the faintest hint of a desultory smile forming at the corner of his mouth.
CUT TO BLACK:
Sudden horn stabs blare as VIC FLICK’s familiar bass line rips through the silence, merging into the unmistakable strains of Mick Jagger’s voice singing the “Slow Horses” theme...
ROLL OPENING CREDITS
Caddy666@reddit
I wouldn't.
Willsagain2@reddit
Easy, set them in the past. Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey
SuccotashNormal9164@reddit
This story is absolute nonsense. Every writer asked to write a new Bond film would just start from scratch and not worry in the slightest that the Craig Bond died. New Bond, new continuity.
GuybrushFunkwood@reddit
Have the camera pan over what you think is his body with voices around him saying “we can rebuild him …. We have the technology” .. Bam! 2 franchises for the price of one AND a soft reboot!
KittyGrewAMoustache@reddit
They could put his brain and face and some organs into an android body and have him be like a RoboSpy or…..Spyborg!!
ResplendentBear@reddit
Bring back Pierce Brosnan (or Timothy Dalton) and do it Mask of Zorro style, with him passing on his knowledge to the latest Bond. In a cave, for some reason.
That_Northern_bloke@reddit
Ohh yeah good shout. Dalton was a severely underrated Bond IMO
GreenWoodDragon@reddit
He tried very hard to upturn the usual vacuous female sidekick narrative, so credit to him for that.
odx0r@reddit
He was excellent. Too bad he's busy these days being a slasher.....
Cause4concern27@reddit
Of prices?
That_Northern_bloke@reddit
Haha, very good
odx0r@reddit
Both jokingly and sincerely I actually think he was great, Dalton is a great actor, his timing as bond just wasn't perfect.
Djinjja-Ninja@reddit
Dalton was the Bond we needed, but didn't realise it at the time.
He was a Daniel Craig Bond when everyone wanted another Roger Moore Bond.
Controversial, but I rate him a close second behind Daniel Craig as best Bond.
LemmysCodPiece@reddit
You seem to be mistaking Daniel Craig with George Lazenby.
ResplendentBear@reddit
It's funny how George Lazenby has been reappraised from total disaster to good Bond in the last 30 years.
nonoanddefinitelyno@reddit
It's controversial to have Craig as number one imo.
Potassium_Doom@reddit
100000%
That_Northern_bloke@reddit
Id imagine they have a decent healthcare package so it'll probably be fine. Or he'd use the wheelchair the Q had in one of the Brosnan films that fired missiles or something
MuggleWumpLiberation@reddit
He's also 79 years old
bored_toronto@reddit
..."I'm a slasher! Of spies!"
daddywookie@reddit
Have both turn up and then try to teach the new Bond in their own unique styles. Maybe have them reference each other’s missions in an “oh, that was you!” kind of way.
That_Northern_bloke@reddit
Knives Out does Bond, Daniel Craigs characters are never on screen at the same time and the other characters are convinced Benoir and Bond are the same person
Potassium_Doom@reddit
Please no
They are so bad, tropey, predictable and solvable for whodunnits
That_Northern_bloke@reddit
Yes and they're fun and enjoyable
daddywookie@reddit
It’s a shame the time has passed when you could have an entirely ex-Bond cast for a Knives Out style mystery. The potential for in jokes would be huge.
That_Northern_bloke@reddit
We can but dream
Kinitawowi64@reddit
That was the plot of the new Karate Kid movie.
Known-Ad-1556@reddit
I don’t think you can do a Marvel-style Bond multiverse…
hdhxuxufxufufiffif@reddit
If they did that, why not both?
VagueNostalgicRamble@reddit
Or the Dread Pirate Roberts
Xenozip3371Alpha@reddit
Brosnan was my favourite Bond, they could go wacky as shit, and still treat the situation as absolutely serious.
Underwritingking@reddit
I would totally reboot it back to the start of Bond's career and set it in the Cold War era - probably the 1950s. I fondly imagine Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (the film) with Bond, SMERSH, SPECTRE etc thrown into the mix
mrp1994@reddit
I’ve been saying this for a while now, set it during a period in the past where Bond actually needs an array of cleverly disguised gadgets that all serve functions that, nowadays, would be covered by any modern smartphone.
AllAvailableLayers@reddit
And thrillers are a lot easier to write without smartphones. Modern scripts will always need to find an excuse why someone can't phone for help, receive a photo of the suspect, translate or transmit a document, or find out where they are.
In the 1950s a spy can be in a Polish castle, holding a valuable memo written in Russian. He needs to get it back to his people, and there's a significant difficulty in doing so. In the modern day, the writer needs to have already had him captured and his resources taken away, otherwise he's one wifi connection away from getting all the info home.
mrp1994@reddit
Great points, I also think that the stuff we all find enjoyable about the spy genre works best against the backdrop of the Cold War, double agents, black ops, secret codes etc.
Like you say, setting in the current era has the writers bending over backwards to write scenarios that don’t cause massive plot holes.
KittyGrewAMoustache@reddit
Modern spycraft I imagine is just banks of office cubicles full of slightly pudgy people hacking stuff and reading social media posts (or making posts they target at this or that politician or business person to make them think this or that or get outraged about this or that).
RunningDude90@reddit
Someone needs to phone John Rain and ask him for some help.
bored_toronto@reddit
I highly recommend watching "The Sandbaggers" on YouTube. It's a late-70's gritty British spy series that shows the behind-the-scenes operations. There's also an episode that shows >!a British agent dying of his wounds in a grotty East German safehouse!<.
RianJohnsonIsAFool@reddit
I'm completely onboard with this. I'd love a Bond film that has more of the quiet spycraft. Dr No did a good job of balancing that with action.
andrewdotlee@reddit
This was considered but it was rejected due to the lack of product placement opportunities. If I find the article I read it in I'll post later
Known-Ad-1556@reddit
Just cast Gary Oldman as an old man bond and don’t have any action or stunts, just him doing very understated acting with other cold-war era characters in dimly lit rooms.
TBH just give Oldman the entire John Le Carre back catalogue to work through…
jamscrying@reddit
Yeah a vintage Bond would open up the franchise again and separate it from the myriad of other modern action films. Cool retro gadgets, proper espionage without cctv and satellite stuff, more interesting setting and separated from modern politics.
PomegranateV2@reddit
Yep. They could do one set in the 1950s based on the book Moonraker about errant Nazis.
Crittsy@reddit
This, follow the story from him leaving the Navy, recruited by the secret service & career up to his 00 rating & perhaps his 1st kill
TheAireon@reddit
Just reboot the franchise. NTTD doesn't have to affect anything in the new film.
TheMeltingSnowman72@reddit
Have a standalone first out of the usual trajectory. Set in 50's or some other post-war era, go to town on physical stunts, move away from CGI - call it a tribute if it doesn't work and revert after work a reboot after the 'special'
KittyGrewAMoustache@reddit
Ooh I’d like a Cold War East Germany Bond plot, like something that’s based on real spy stories but with a lot of artistic licence.
breakola@reddit
Tarantino wrote a script for a standalone bond film set in the 60’s. Could have been interesting
X-actoMundo@reddit
99.9% chance there's a villainess who kills with her feet.
daddywookie@reddit
I would watch the hell out of Henry Caville being a 1950s gentleman spy in immaculate suits and snappy one liners.
DEADB33F@reddit
...I've got news for you.
Embarrassed_Length_2@reddit
100% this but start in the late 40s. China, Russia, Korea, Nazis in exile. Lot of opportunities for bad guys.
Base them more on the books, like Moonraker for example.
Have Bond learn his trade during ww2 and then become 007 after the war and get up to all sorts of nonsense.
geebeetee@reddit
That's the way I'd like the next arc to go. Go for a 50s/60s arc, sort of like Guy Ritchie's 'Man from Uncle' film. Doesn't have to be that going forward, but do a 3/4 film arc as a palate cleanser from the really gritty Craig stuff.
Other-Barry-1@reddit
Given we’ve had plenty of real world experience of billionaires doing iffy stuff, a Bond film on stopping a Epstein-Musk esque villain from world domination, only for politicians to stop him from going after him would be a very, sadly, realistic take
GreenWoodDragon@reddit
007 is a designation, not a person, so they can write in whoever they want.
Personally I'd like to see Nomi (Lashana Lynch) step into 007's shoes but that'll upset the incels everywhere who will review bomb the franchise much as they did when Jodie Whittaker took on the role of Dr Who.
ParadiseLost1674@reddit
Forget Bond. Use some of the other 00 numbers and create a new universe of spies with individual abilities, backgrounds, and specialisms. Bring back the 007 number in time, but don’t rush it. Do an Avengers Assemble- type movie to put them all together every few years. Go hog wild.
memberflex@reddit
Go back in time and start again?
Aware_Requirement982@reddit
Go back to the 1950s.
Sh-tHouseBurnley@reddit
I would start at the beginning. Create a new Bond, and show him as a young lad like in the books. Few movies of escalating hi-jinks until he gets picked up by MI5.
UntappdBeer@reddit
It was a dream, never happened an all that.
Agitated_Ad_361@reddit
Kill it off, it’s shit.
bob25997@reddit
Alternative universe where different people do each job .
freckledclimber@reddit
I'd make it retro. Go back to 1960s style bond. It'll give it more room to be a bit cheesy whilst still being cool
jebediah1800@reddit
Set it all in the 1960s. Bond doesn't need to be cancelled by MI5 snowflakes.
Eddysgoldengun@reddit
Do something along the lines of tomorrow never dies it’s more relevant than ever
thatmovieperson@reddit
Just literally reboot it. Start again. New continuity. Not that hard.
strongbowblade@reddit
I would just embrace the code name theory and bring in the next Bond
Axiom620@reddit
If you really cared about consistency set the new movie in Bond’s past. If he’s not died yet it’s not a problem.
Physical-Cod2853@reddit
couldn’t give less of a toss as long as it isn’t a yank
Forsaken-Tiger-9475@reddit
Bond is a code name, not a specific person.
There will always be a Bond
boldstrategy@reddit
This should be a “How did he resurrect himself?” “Well it was super easy, barely an inconvenience.” Conversation
X-actoMundo@reddit
"Somehow, 007 returned."
Wooden-Bookkeeper473@reddit
Put Jay and Silent Bob in it.
ProfessionalPhone409@reddit
'I heard you died'
'You heard wrong'
X-actoMundo@reddit
"I got better."
ShortGuitar7207@reddit
How about ‘Brooke Bond’, his illegitimate love child now reached maturity and is just as ruthless, charming, carefree but in a female form. Surely most real world spies are women anyway simply because they can command more influence over men.
TheMissingThink@reddit
Brooke Bond? Not my cup of tea
X-actoMundo@reddit
It'd certainly cause a stir.
WackyAndCorny@reddit
We need them to acknowledge it.
The first quarter of the movie will involve a bearded Timothy Dalton and a grey haired old Pierce Brosnan sat in a hide on an open range helping select the next 007
The premise needs to be that James Bond is the persona that the successful candidate takes on. Their old existence is destroyed and they become the new James Bond. This then also explains why some of the evil protagonists react in the way they have done. It’s not “you are James Bond”, its more “ah, so this is this years James Bond”. If Bond is on to you, time to shred stuff and clean house.
It also absolutely 100% has got to be a 25-30 year old British man. Anything else is woke shite and no amount of awareness bollocks will convince me otherwise.
Razzilith@reddit
it's an episodic franchise, who cares? it doesn't need a throughline and in fact it's WORSE with one
New_Line4049@reddit
I wouldnt. Bonds had a good run, and Im a huge fan, but there comes a time when a franchise has run its course and should be allowed to end in dignity. Bond had the firey, heroic death befitting of such a character, theres no better place to call time.
facingthemusic94@reddit
I listened to Forever and a Day recently, an audiobook by Anthony Horowitz that is a Bond prequel. Starts when he is first 007. Really enjoyed that. Wouldn’t be averse to them making that the next film.
Jolly-Minimum-6641@reddit
They should get rid of the story arc and just have the films as isolated, independent stories that don't depend on each other.
Widepaul@reddit
Complete fresh start, new actors, no sly nods/Easter eggs to previous films would be best. I am however morbidly curious as to whether they could pull off something akin to Teen Agent or the James Bond Junior cartoon (God I'm old) and see a much younger, less suave and confident Bond as he finds his footing and grows into it as the movie/series progresses.
misterdominic@reddit
The start of Goldeneye had Brosnan “promoted” to the status of “00” and “James Bond” could still be an alias for 007 - so I don’t think it should be an issue at all to be honest.
ishallbecomeabat@reddit
Have him be alive
arky_who@reddit
"it's amazing what modern medicine can do" and then move on
TheDisapprovingBrit@reddit
Zombie Bond, obviously.
JamesTiberious@reddit
Just reboot it again? I don’t understand the problem.
crankyteacher1964@reddit
Simple. Set it in the context of the multiverse. That way, you can have as many Bond's as you like; some loyal, some traitorous. Some where he continued his career in the Navy.
What do you mean you're fed up of the multiverse and time travel shenanigans???
MrStilton@reddit
Cast Bob Mortimer on the role.
foxjerk@reddit
Surely it’s obvious? Prequels! The bond back story
Rasples1998@reddit
It's weird that I was immediately spoiled about bond dying in the movie literally the day it came out, and it's kinda become so common knowledge now that it's not even a spoiler anymore, like Vader being Luke's father.
knight-under-stars@reddit
Just ignore it.
Nobody has any issue with the fact the bloke himself has regenerated upteen times.
Fine_Cress_649@reddit
I've always considered "James Bond" to be a pseudonym. Like, none of them are actually the son of Mr and Mrs Bond who had a child that they decided to call James. It's just a name that is used by an MI6 assassin, maybe to protect his real identity/family from being discovered.
ian9outof10@reddit
It’s a perfectly reasonable assumption given that’s how all the other characters work, and that’s how the actual security services do it at the top end.
FrankieBeanz@reddit
It's a perfectly unreasonable assumption since the films actively contradict such a reading.
RicochetRabidUK@reddit
I wouldn't. Let the franchise die.
cooky561@reddit
James Bond 007 is his spy name, surely each new actor is a "new" bond. So they can do the same here.
lxgrf@reddit
They broke this theory in Skyfall, but then the franchise would survive just… ignoring that.
cooky561@reddit
They wouldn't have to break it, Change of policy, from today whoever takes the role of 007 will be called James Bond.
The secrecy of intelligence agencies allows for all sorts of reasons to not end the film series.
ultrafunkmiester@reddit
There's 600+ comments in this thread, like most people in this thread I grew up watching bond in all iterations and loved them in different ways. Reboot and ignore the past, current day, modern tech, current threats. Do it properly, blow shit up, crash real cars. No fucking cgi nonsense modern films rely too much on it and it looks and feels fake. Do a cold war era bond everyone is clamouring for it. Simpler, more tense higher acting and writing, less stupid CGI
I always wanted to write a multibond film with them all attending an awards dinner (or some shit) in a country house or private island. Threat ensues, terrorist attac or similar then each bond gets a chance to shine taking the piss out of each other "so that's what you call a punch these days". Connery proved he's absolutely still had it in "The Rock" which is easily the "lost" bond film. How brilliant would it have been to have connery, Moore, Dalton, brosnan, and maybe a cameo for Lazenby. Working together to foil some nefarious plot. They would take the piss out of each other's character and exploits while still being bond level awesome. Sadly I was to lazy to write it and it would have been epic and alas the time has long past and a Dalton, brosnan, Craig combo doesn't appeal anywhere as much.
Important_Feature359@reddit
I would start again literally.
Young Bond on his first mission.
SunUsual550@reddit
I think it would be really good if they just went all out for the five star guardian review.
Bond could be self-diagnosed autistic, trans woman with severe mental health and interpersonal issues who spends the entire film arguing with people on twitter.
Instead of killing the villains she could simply trash them on social media, accusing them of gaslighting her and trying to get them cancelled.
Cause4concern27@reddit
I worry that this is what Amazon would probably do 🫣
Fit-Bedroom-7645@reddit
Thanks for the spoiler FFS. But seriously, just throw a curve ball and start it with Peirce Brosnan waking up from a fever dream
bluenoser18@reddit
Why tf would Craig's Bond dying at the end of a film have any bearing at all on a Bond film, with an entirely new cast, specifically a new Bond, and filmed/released many years later? It gives them a clean slate. Its a blessing.
Wtf are these writers struggling with? "Oh dear- how can we somehow tie this Bond to THAT Bond"? I can answer that in half a second......DON'T. Clear it up for you? jeeeeeezuz.
JB-Original-One@reddit
I don’t really understand why they can’t just reboot the franchise and cast someone younger to play a newly crowned 007.
Dadriks@reddit
Just pretend it didn't happen. Nobody gives a shit. they can just replace the actor each time and everyone accepts it.
Lonely-Permission901@reddit
There was this character from the old Marvel Tomb of Dracula comic called Clifton Graves who was reassembled and reanimated. This guy:-
For what it's worth it was a character called Dr Sun who did the reassembling and reanimation of Mr Graves. Whether Dr Sun was any relation of the Colonel Sun of the Kingsley Amis Bond book (or the Colonel Tan-Sun Moon who appeared in the last Brosnan Bond film 'Die Another Day'), I couldn't say .....
Why not have a crazy-quilt Bond? No less ludicrous than him being a Time Lord . . . .
On-Mute@reddit
If it needs to fit in with what's gone before, then go back to what came before.
Do a series of films set during the cold war, with Bond surviving with cunning and not gadgets or explosives. Recreating Berlin or Budapest in the 60's, but in 4k, would look amazing and the violence would be gritty and brutal, not flashy. Make it about tension more than action.
BigAlpaca3643@reddit
It’s really not difficult. The Craig era was its own thing, they went back to the beginning and told a fresh story that ties one film to the next, whereas all the previous bonds were basically standalone adventures with virtually no crossover besides little references like Tracey. All they need to do is cast a younger actor and start fresh again. Look at what the Hitman developers have done with the new Bond video game, I assumed Amazon were going to do much the same 🤷♂️
Intelligent-Bee-839@reddit
Be brave and remake Dr. No
VFiddly@reddit
I would just start a new film with a new actor and not even address the death at all
They never tried to explain why he's remained roughly the same age since the 1960s. Why is the same guy who served in WW2 still in his 50s in 2021? Who cares. Don't worry about it.
Interconnected franchises can be fun but sometimes it's fine to just let the different parts of the franchise stand alone
thesvenisss@reddit
I’d probably either a) ignore it and just have a new Bond - what did they expect!? Or b) have a reset and go back to either war time or 50s and give it a classic spin. Many movies of similar ilk have data tracking, heavy advanced weaponry and what not. Take it back to simpler times and a reimagining of the classoc Bond.
Greedy-Area9109@reddit
I think the time is right for him to go back to casual misogyny and murdering Russians.
joshii87@reddit
“Man talk…” slap
JicamaCivil2380@reddit
There is a long-running fan theory (within the movies, not the novels) that James Bond is simply the code name for Agent 007, hence why Bond can be played by numerous actors of different ages. Also explains why Daniel Craig’s Bond starts as a rookie. 00s have a pretty short life expectancy, and I’m pretty sure in the movie series 009 has been killed and replaced. So it’s simply the case that a new Bond comes in.
PMFSCV@reddit
Stir in some sci fi, clones, gattaca etc.
Plus_Sherbet460@reddit
I'd beg George McKay to play a younger bond that has just finished university and is about to join the navy. We've never seen bond before he was 007.
Clear_Requirement880@reddit
And why would you want to? The whole point if the films is he’s 007
Plus_Sherbet460@reddit
Because.
HoggleHoggle@reddit
Netflix series department q. It focused, in terms of screen time, more on other characters than the person kidnapped. Have a young bond, pre 007, be the one kidnapped. Focus on i.e. introduce new core characters like a new M, new Q etc, build them up and at the end they save Bond (link the episode to when hes becoming +/- before or after becomimg a spy).
People spend so much time focusing on the non Blmd characters, it resets the series for the end of the film when we get the rescued Bond. Hes then free for the rest of said new actors contracted number of films.
TacticalTeacake@reddit
That the name 'James Bond' is just an alias used by MI5, and that their have been many agents take on the identity over the years.
Y-Bob@reddit
I would drop all the nauseating feelings stuff and just make a film with no mention of the last bond dying.
That was a terrible move and deserves to be retconned.
Either that or have Bond dreadfully mangled but alive somehow from the explosion and then have them rebuild him with titanium bones and built in WiFi.
SarkicPreacher777659@reddit
Bond dies in every film now. Fuck it. The director can do anything but Bond has to die at some point.
skynet2k26@reddit
The next bond movie will be, oh he didn't die he managed to survive blah blah probably add in a new identity with a plastic surgery face story because if the new actor lol
DEADB33F@reddit
I don't think anybody could have foreseen this tbh. How could the death of the title character possibly screw up any potential for future sequels?
Maybe they could try to say that Bond is some kind of mythical being who metamorphosizes into another body with a completely different likeness and personality on death. I don't think that's done before.
PilotedByGhosts@reddit
"James Bond" is a codename, same as "007". How else could he not have aged since Dr No?
nabster1973@reddit
Why does Bond have continuity through the 60+ years but Felix Leiter can lose his leg in Licence To Kill and it suddenly grow back for subsequent films?
Alternative_Route@reddit
I wouldn't let whoever was involved in writing NTTD anywhere near it. That wasn't a bond film,
The motor bike jump was good and possibly one of the best set piece stunts had in a long time, others I remember right now was the corkscrew bridge jump and the alligator/crocodile run, but felt just on the edge of what is acceptable for reality in a Bond film. (Yes I realise saying reality and Bond in the same sentence is ridiculous)
But the fight scene where Paloma absolutely destroys the kill team, had there been fewer members of the team or she hadn't made it look so easy fair enough, but it's gone beyond the realms of reality in a way that Daniel Craig bond films haven't before.
And there were several other bits that just felt wrong.
dl064@reddit
I think the bigger problem, as Daniel Craig said himself, is how you do something which is genuinely fresh.
Cutting the shit, the only truly excellent Craig one was Casino Royale.
They've done gritty, they've done daft, they've done the middle. I dunno. I don't trust Amazon to nail it.
Crafty_Letter_1719@reddit
Completely forget about continuity.
Give complete creative control to any A-list filmmaker for a one and done film. No franchise building. Just a single film with a completely different actor, story and creative team each time.
This means Tarantino gets to make his period Bond. Spielberg gets to make his rejected Bond pitch that ultimately inspired Indiana Jones. Nolan gets to do whatever he wants with his dream Bond project-and none of the films are connected whatsoever. Make a new film every two years.
Some of the films will be genre masterpieces. Some will be indulgent messes. All will be interesting as they will be made by actual visionary filmmakers with passion rather than by committee.
dl064@reddit
Great story in Empire that for Skyfall they tried to get Sean Connery to play the old man in the cottage at the end. He declined.
Which would strongly imply - basically say outright - that James Bond and 007 is indeed a code and they were all different men. Which is pretty obviously the solution here.
Early-Accountant2186@reddit
Old Bond. In his 70's/80's, comes out of retirement to help his community with a local issue or something small, keeps doing small bits for the community until he stumbles on something bigger. Does't have it physically, but is sharp.
hennell@reddit
I think the only way Bond works as the tale of one guy, is if they're the stories of one guy who's telling you them in the pub. Was he really a spy? Went to space and "seduced" all these women? Sure, and you died on the exploding island too mate. I'm off to talk with Hagrid over there in the corner.
ErroneousBee@reddit
The Daniel era was a reboot, so we dont need to worry about the Connery->Brosnan era. We just go forward from NTTD.
I guess they could make the
James Bond is a codenametheory and have the new 007 "Bob Smith" takes on the "James Bond" identity for plot reasons.Delicious-Stop5554@reddit
I don’t see how this is a problem at all. Casino Royale basically had a new Bond just starting out and getting his 00 license - just reboot and move on. The issue is the Daniel Craig movies were brilliant, and therefore a tough act to follow. Plus so much history - where and how do you start afresh without seeming cliched or repetitive?
InsecureInscapist@reddit
Full reboot as a 60s costume drama.
captain_crackerjack@reddit
After watching NTTD, I opined that the reboot should be set in the 60s and should be gritty, grey and sepia, and focus more on tradecraft than gadgets. Kind of like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but 60s rather than 70s.
remmy84@reddit
Just don’t do it chronologically. How could he be Sean Connery old in his films then doctor who regenerate into Daniel Craig?
Just say the story took place out of time order. Don’t recall anything specifically chronologically locking his death into 2022 or whenever it was
Zealousideal_Trip661@reddit
Don’t sell it to Amazon?
Apprehensive_Gap3673@reddit
I would make a new movie with a young James Bond and completely ignore him dying because no one cares
Straw8@reddit
spoiler alert
Ready-Dish5251@reddit
They should’ve just let Christopher Nolan do his period piece version of Bond.
legoofthat@reddit
I've always thought Bond isn't a specific character or actor. He's an identify that sits as 007. When one actor playing 007 leaves, the new 007 has different memories, a different background and a different approach to being a secret agent.
All whilst keeping the cool stuff like Q, money penny and Aston Martins. They drink the same Martini because should they meet another agent in the field they know each other without having to potentially ' out' one another.
It's an honour to be a 007 and all secret agents want this title/job. In fact, that's the basis of this new movie. 😉
I could go on!
jonrosling@reddit
His death shouldn't be an issue if they're going for a clean reboot.
Personalyl, I'd love to see the original novels, done exactly as they are in the time period they were originally set. A retro Bond but with a real edge.
DatedRhyme713@reddit
I wouldn't even have a bond film. I'd have a Q origin story film kinda like when they did the TV series based on Alfred before he joined the Wayne family.
mad_saffer@reddit
All the different Bond's from the multiverse... Thanks Marvel.
ClassicPerception768@reddit
Posted in bond forum a few days back. I have an interesting idea for where they could possibly take the Bond franchise next. I'm suggesting an anthology of 3 or 4 movies, each with James at a different time in his life. These stories would be told by a retired and somewhat injured Bond (age around 70/80) and then tales recounting Bond age early 20s Bond age late 30s to early 40s and Bond age mid 50s nearer retirement. The Memoirs of James Bond perhaps? I know this would entail casting 3 different actors for each timeline plus an older actor to act and recount the narrative /story. I honestly think it could be great given the right actors and director.
flylo81@reddit
start over with a clean slate and a new Bond
mmoonbelly@reddit
It’s not that hard. Just dial back in Bond’s life to his seventh mission in his 30s. Set it in the modern day.
Create a situation where he’s tracking down information on illegal activity smuggling cocaine into Europe start in Belize on a RN ship, then into Mexico - where he gets kidnapped onto submarine and has to have a fight somewhere near Nassau.
At that point it gets revealed the different interrelations between other security services and the drug scene. Bond heads out on a flight to Antwerp to get introduced to high flyers through the diamond markets there, meets his new love who turns out to be linked to the IRA and knows who Bond really is, tries to kill him but then is revealed to be a triple agent working for the British with hidden information about Russian activity off Cornwall tapping into the NSA/GCHQ cables. It ends with a chasing a random fishing boat with signals intelligence capabilities by exploding a narco-sub against its hull. Bond boards the boat before it explodes, kills the narco agents and retrieves the different equipment with information about how this was being transmitted to different relay stations and for how long.
It ends in a massive explosion with 4 tons of cocaine floating on the surface of the Bristol Channel.
Accomplished_Unit863@reddit
Don't bother. There is no law that says it must go on forever.
mrbadger2000@reddit
Make it TV. Make it period 50s
Particular-Pace-2990@reddit
The codename theory stands untill new bond brought his dB 5 out 🤣 I'm not writer. Make him a vampire? IDK
Death_Binge@reddit
Honestly, I'd just let it be. It's an anachronism. Spy movies come in two flavours it seems: serious and silly. A modern Bond can't be silly, and a serious Bond isn't Bond.
supergodmasterforce@reddit
There's only a few things that are certain in life.
The first...No matter how many times The Doctor defeats and kills The Master, The Master always survives.
The second...The Four Horsemen will always turn on Sting
The third...James Bond cannot die. Just ignore it or if anyone asks, have a throwaway line about a speedboat being discovered at the last second.
bored_toronto@reddit
...because he's Captain Scarlet! Bond-x-Gerry Anderson!
Walkerno5@reddit
I know Sting is super horny what with all the tantric stuff but I’ve never heard that accusation before.
harryTMM@reddit
I think he's referring to the wrestler most associated with wcw in the 1990s, not the lead singer of the police
confusedbookperson@reddit
He was wearing his explosive-proof underpants that shielded him from the blast.
Judging_Jester@reddit
Upvote just for the 4horseman reference
supergodmasterforce@reddit
Always got to be conducting some Horsemen business, brother.
Travelling_Viking@reddit
Actually set it in the era of the Flemming novels.
AzzTheMan@reddit
Jump on the multiverse bandwagon! Start making them really weird, or one where James Bond is the bad guy
fivetunately4me@reddit
They’ll have to do what happened in the Saturday morning serials: they would change the cliffhanger ending, so that the hero is still alive, until the end of the next, where you’d have to come back and see what happens next! JB will have to go through something like that. Change him from being fried to a crisp, to incredibly avoiding his demise somehow.
slop_drobbler@reddit
Start a new 60s throwback Connery era series ignoring all previous continuity. Modern day spy genre is over saturated
focalac@reddit
Reboot. Set it in the 60s, keep it in the 60s.
Euphoric_Ad_2049@reddit
I’d love this, but I don’t think they will. There is too much money in brand deals. The car, watch, suit, beer and everything else help cover the cost of the movie. Setting it in the 60s would make that harder, although not impossible.
The only thing that makes me think they might go back to the 60s is the Bond copyright ending. When that happens we will definitely see some period-accurate and book-accurate adaptations from other studios. Since Amazon now has creative control of the films, they might decide to remake the classic 60s stories themselves so their versions become the “definitive” ones. That would make any public-domain copycat films look cheap in comparison.
CorpusCalossum@reddit
The Cold War can drive so many stories, especially now that it's history, we can do more with Cold War stories than we could when we were in it.
R-ohdear@reddit
Give him bad teeth and have him say ‘groovy baby’ a lot.
rumoff@reddit (OP)
"This coffee tastes like shit"
quite_acceptable_man@reddit
"It's a bit nutty"
nWoSting145@reddit
Who.does.number.two.work.for?!
WHO.DOES.NUMBER.TWO.WORK.FOR?!
nWoSting145@reddit
It is shit, Austin.
…oh good, it’s not just me.☕️
bored_toronto@reddit
Just as the missiles hit Bond closes is eyes...and regenerates!
Ulfbass@reddit
Have him pull himself out of some wreckage, look at some broken high tech computers that might have been used to control the nanobots, and then forget it ever happened except for him having reached new heights of notoriety for being literally immortal. If there were any plot devices that were used to say the nanobots were independent of computers, they can be passed off as a lie.
Doesn't really seem that difficult to be honest, the situation is quite deterministic. If he's alive then he wasn't killed by the things we thought would kill him
RichestTeaPossible@reddit
Set it in the past of the novels. Bond the eager Navy commando becoming the haunted cynic of Thunderball.
babawow@reddit
I’d love to see some Bond movies set back in the 70’s again.
Andromidius@reddit
Honestly? I'd make it a period piece set in the 1960's. Gives a lot more creative room for the gadgets to actually be weird prototypes of things we know can work and sidesteps current political issues and timeline confusions.
Obviously curated to avoid the 'unfortunate' social climate of the era. Make it an 'ideal' version of the time.
Historical_Pin2806@reddit
Here's £250k to write the first draft of the new Bond film. Will you have a problem?
Nope, I'll get cracking right away...
Voidhunger@reddit
I propose they - completely and in perpetuity - stop giving a fuck about this detail and just make James Bond movies where James Bond does James Bond shit and the mounting contradictions can fuel future generations of discussion about the character and the particulars of the conflicting aspects of his metaphysical being.
The sole discussion we should be having is if the actor they picked this time can pull it off, with the complementary sub-discussion of how many of us want to pull him off.
We always counted Bond movies by the actors run. A Bond run, right, is a fucking Bond run.
Like Doctor Who.
Wankers. Fucking embarrassing. Waste of my time, waste of my fucking time.
Brett_Clement@reddit
I get people saying "just ignore it and move on", but in a post-MCU world audiences are more aware of expanded universes and ongoing continuity. As a screenwriter for the new film you'd want to cater to those by addressing what many will likely view as a cliffhanger.
If they want to go down this route, the only option imo is to treat Casino Royale as the start of the "new canon" and lean into the "James Bond is a codename" theory that's floated around.
The idea being that the original James Bond ran into issues using his real name, as we'd seen with Skyfall etc. and going forward whoever is assigned the 007 number would also be assigned the name James Bond.
For extra cheese points you have a moment where the new bond approaches a bar, orders a martini and when somebody asks his name they pause for a second, stopping themself, before saying "er Bond...James Bond"
Saying this, I'd agree that they just leave it, reboot with a fresh face and start the new Bond's story ignoring any idea of continuity.
EssentialParadox@reddit
Fucking spoiler alert. Thanks a lot.
gridlockmain1@reddit
Wait till you hear about Luke Skywalker’s dad and the ending of the Sixth Sense
Drakeytown@reddit
I don't think any Bond fans are thinking this hard about it. Bond films are basically all the same movie-- here's the gadgets, here's the car, here's the girl--I don't think anyone is as precious about Bond continuity as they are in, say, the superhero movie fandoms.
Not-a-Cranky-Panda@reddit
Some years ago they came up with the idea that the name James Bond was a codename handed over to the next guy.
gridlockmain1@reddit
“They” being people who aren’t paying attention
Havhestur@reddit
Create a long-lost sister, Deidre Bond. Can still do the whole, “the name’s Bond. Deirdre Bond. I’ll have a decaf latte”. Never said it had to be James.
Or a brother, Nigel.
These-Barnaclez@reddit
How is that an issue? Surely everyone knows his death, was Daniel Craig saying bye.
dangerousfingers@reddit
Have him step out the shower, like Patrick Duffy in Dallas.
truearse@reddit
The broccolis decided bond should die, they passed on creative control, so really the headaches are gone, it’s just down to AMAZON to find someone to ruin the franchise
gridlockmain1@reddit
I honestly think this story is made up. It was always going to be a reboot just as it was at the start of Craig’s run.
martinbean@reddit
lol. Imagine killing a character off and not thinking that’s going to cause an issue for continuity.
anothercynicaloldgit@reddit
Go back to the books and do it as a neo-noir period piece.
Holiday-Poet-406@reddit
Spin it back to the end of Higsons books I.e. Royal Command where he leaves Eaton and gets sent to Fettes and that ties you nicely into the Flemming back story, somewhere before the OHMSS. I'm sure you could build a side mission where he hears about Spectre and Bloefeld etc.
MuddaFrmAnnudaBrudda@reddit
Bon recruits. 4 Spy's he had hired on a mission. The person who the public championed, would be the next Bond. One of the other 3 would become a villain.
stu676@reddit
How about him having a shower and someone waking up - it was all a dream!
Ill_Relief2883@reddit
A new bond film series set in the 50/60s would be amazing with more humour like it used to have
4mer_lurker@reddit
Make "James Bond" a code name like "007". Make the new movie the selection process. Bring back old Bonds to be the trainers. Make the plot twist that one of the old Bonds has defected to Spectre and is trying to undermine the process. They could refer to previous Bonds and even "Moneypennys" "Qs" etc. If they really wanted to spice it up ask every actor that has been linked to the role to take part and the movie becomes the audition. Film multiple endings with each actor and reveal who will take on the mantle of Bond at the premiere.
Efficient_Bag_5976@reddit
Simple solution. 'James Bond 007' should just be a moniker - a code name. A new secret agent takes up the moniker.
Character_Team_2651@reddit
Honestly, I'd say let it die now. The original character was created in a much different time, with Britain still a reasonable power. In 2025, that looks very different. I'd still like to see a MI6 based character, but something more akin to George Smiley, or a female agent who wasn't necessarily a super sexy martial artist
rb7833@reddit
It’s easy Brosnan wakes up, it was all a terrible nightmare.
slappymcmanmeat@reddit
If we now acknowledge Bond is a code name post No Time to Die, how about a period piece?
Origins of Bond in WW2, Bond during the Cold War, etc etc
F1nut92@reddit
So we finally get a MGS3 Snake Eater film?
slappymcmanmeat@reddit
The names Snake. Solid Snake
Rainbvw@reddit
Sholid Shnake
F1nut92@reddit
NO! That is not Solid Snake!
Top-Bet1435@reddit
Bond will never match the Snake Eater theme song.
F1nut92@reddit
What a thrill…..
Paynekiller997@reddit
I hate that code name “theory”. There’s so much evidence within the films that debunks it.
Saw_Boss@reddit
It's just people trying to think they can link the different Bonds together when it's very clear that none of them are meant to be directly linked as the exact same person.
People are always keen to tie all loose threads together that aren't given an narrative explanation.
Paynekiller997@reddit
“it's very clear that none of them are meant to be directly linked as the exact same person”
Sorry but you’re very wrong. George Lazenby clears out his desk in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and he’s shown to own Sean Connery’s personal belongings used in Dr. No, From Russia With Love & Thunderball.
Lazenby’s Bond gets married and his wife is immediately killed by Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Sean Connery returned in the next film Diamonds Are Forever and the film opens with Bond hunting Blofeld on a revenge mission. Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton’s Bonds are established to have been married previously but their wives were killed. This is mentioned in The Spy Who Loved Me & Licence To Kill. Plus Roger Moore visits his deceased wife’s grave in For Your Eyes Only and her grave has the same name as Lazenby’s dead wife, Tracy Bond.
Pierce Brosnan’s Bond is mentioned to have “lost someone close to him” in The World Is Not Enough which alludes to his deceased wife. Brosnan is also shown to be familiar with all the old gadgets in Q’s Lab in Die Another Day, even playing with Sean Connery’s jet pack and saying “does this still work?”.
In the video game Everything Or Nothing starring Brosnan, the villain is has close ties to Max Zorin, the villain from A View To A Kill starring Roger Moore. Moore’s Bond threw Zorin from the Golden Gate Bridge in that film and in Everything Or Nothing, Brosnan’s Bond jokes “we played Bridge together” referencing Zorin’s death.
I’m sure there’s more but these are the glaringly obvious ones that Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan are all playing the same man.
danielroseman@reddit
But to counter your theory, Lazenby explicitly says "This never happened to the other fellow". This is surely a recognition that he is not the same person as Connery.
Paynekiller997@reddit
That line was explained by the writers as a funny, fourth wall breaking gag to break the ice with the new Bond. It’s not meant to be taken literally. One little throwaway gag doesn’t really counter all the evidence I mentioned above.
Saw_Boss@reddit
Fair play... I retract my statement.
vexatiousmonkey@reddit
Although the callback to the Aston in Skyfall was a nice touch, it didn't actually make a lot of sense - Different Bond. different M, pure fan-service.
The attempt to tie Blofeld into the Craig-Bond movies effectively eradicates the Connery/Moore/Dalton/Brosnan timelines as he's made part of the Craig-Bond origin story.
I don't believe there's a choice: You have to ignore the previous incarnations and reboot from scratch.
Glum-Gap3316@reddit
Didn't this Bond win it in a card game in Casino Royale? In like Cuba or something? Can imagine he liked it enough to ship it back to the UK and have Q give it a once over.
vexatiousmonkey@reddit
He won a similar car certainly but I doubt that car had an ejector seat, and M in Skyfall alludes to the ejector seat - so either it's the old bond car or Q has gone to the trouble of fitting it, and M is aware of it for no good reason.
Ultimately I think it's clearly intended to be fan-service, and that's fine but it doesn't actually make sense.
Wrong-booby7584@reddit
Err, why not just set it in the past?
Acrylic_Starshine@reddit
Treat the latest ones as their own series and start again.
The 007 title can be passed on but we still should be getting the James Bond character. Even if that's an alias it should still be a womanizing man.
UniqueEnigma121@reddit
The franchise should have ended with No Time to Die, it was the perfect finale.
Now Amazon own the franchise & all the original owners are out, I will not be watching any new iterations.
MopvivII@reddit
"Hello, 008"
Can I have an Amazon screenwriter salary now? I'll even take a partial credit
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
Is this because they want to keep Ralph Fiennes there?
Zealousideal_Fold_60@reddit
I think the franchise has had its day.. the last film was tired
truckosaurus_UK@reddit
They could easily just repeat the breaking of the 4th wall as per the opening of OHMSS and get the new Bond to say something like 'Good to be back from the dead...' or something similar.
funkmachine7@reddit
Just move straight into an action scene where we meet our new bond.
msma46@reddit
Shocking suggestion: don’t bother. 25 Bond movies was enough. Move on.
anotherotheronedo@reddit
James Bond's dead. Whatever happens next. He's dead. It's never coming back.
carlbernsen@reddit
Take Bond back to the 1950’s/60’s and make it a Cold War espionage thriller again.
No mobile phones or laptops or satellites. His funny gadgets would be quirky and believable again and there’d be a lot more vintage cars.
Turbulent_Check9051@reddit
They are massively overthinking this 😄
iron81@reddit
Personally let's go backwards. Bond is dead. We've seen his missions, now let's see what made him the agent he was. His training, his work with other 00 etc
Shadow-Inversions@reddit
Bond is an alias for the agent 007.
Done.
K0monazmuk@reddit
'Son of Bond' - he must have 'one or two' about he doesn't know about?
Snow_Uk@reddit
back to the 1980's or 70's do more stories from the past
that way gadgets will be cool and all high tech nonsense
illegitimate_guru@reddit
Go back to the 60s. Make movies about the greatest/worst spy era, actually fear Russian spy's and have the CIA interfering with everything
Billy_McMedic@reddit
I personally like the idea that James Bond is yet another code name. If you haven’t heard this idea, it’s that James Bond is frankly an awful spy. Flashy cars, fancy suits, doing a lot of high profile shit on really flimsy identities and is almost always caught and unmasked at least once in each big “case”. Oh and telling everyone his name almost constantly.
To reconcile this, the idea is that “James Bond” or 007 isn’t really a person but a role in the 00 series, 007 is the dummy/distraction agent, big, flashy, draws all attention to himself, does the massive gun fights and gets the big bad to focus their attention on him. This isn’t to say 007 is stupid, or a bad agent, he is perfectly trained for his role and works in concert with the other 00 agents, Bond distracts while the other agents actually do the work infiltrating, extracting data and performing more subtle sabotage, slipping in the wake of the chaos unleashed by 007.
Obviously, this makes 007 a very high risk role for the health of the agent, and requires agents with certain, personality traits, to really be the most effective, hence the more, morally dubious aspects to Bonds personality. 007 is the 00 position with the highest mortality or serious injury rate and thus often needs replacing, plus agents tend to age out quite quickly due to the physical demands needing agents at peak physical fitness to keep up.
Now, from a film making perspective, this would be perfect for an expansion to a James Bond franchise, you can keep the core movies surrounding Bond and his escapades, but with this lore you could then start to expand the franchise, think stuff like TV shows that follow other 00 agents operating in Bonds wake. And by making Bond a position rather than a person, it makes it easier to handle stuff like deaths. Each death of a bond would still have an impact, as viewers we may have liked this specific characterisation of Bond or the actor who played them, and their killing off leaves an impact and means the ending of that specific Bond, but it doesn’t write the author’s into a corner having to explain how suddenly bond returns and having to ignore how they look completely different. Stakes still exist as that specific Bind is vulnerable to death, hell stakes may go up as it becomes easier to kill off a Bond
DavidJonnsJewellery@reddit
Just do what they did with Diamonds Are Forever. Just forget the other guy ever existed and carry on as if nothing had happened. If you watch Diamonds after You Only Live Twice, it kinda makes sense
Specialeyes9000@reddit
This is a ridiculous nonsense article.
"They are now stuck trying to find a believable way to resurrect him"
No they aren't. Obviously they'll just make another James Bond film and not mention it at all. No-one will care AT ALL.
ZakFellows@reddit
It shouldn’t really be a struggle.
There have been many actors that played Batman, like with the Craig movies, they are inherently limited by the characters back story but everything else is a blank slate and it’s the actual content of the movie that defines that Batman.
James Bond is in a similar boat: do you want it to be silly? Serious? Tongue in cheek? Gritty?
Stop worrying about the character because that’s well established and start thinking about what kind of movie do you want to make with the character.
As far as his death? Doesn’t need answering. Just make a new one and don’t worry about continuity because the new actor will be enough to tell audiences that continuity doesn’t matter
TheMissingThink@reddit
Opening scene: RN rib boat racing to the island to check for survivors. Shot looking up at a rescue helicopter lowering a winch.
Cut to the grounds of a hospital, where we see the new bond with their arm in plaster and sling. He draws the Walther from the sling and shoots the camera.
Get on with the story and don't mention it again
TalosAnthena@reddit
I’ve never seen Bond as continuing the story of the last when there’s a new bond. I still think it was stupid to kill him off though. But they could just start the whole story over again, again. I’ve always seen it as the number 007 and not the man. As seen when that woman became 007 in the last one. So Bond can die but the number doesn’t
b-roc@reddit
I wrote this post 4 years ago so apologies if you've read it (unlikely):
An idea for an opening scene to the next Bond film
The setting is a British consulate in a hot, humid, tropical environment. A car pulls up in front and contains a driver and two passengers. All three occupants are clearly dangerous men looking out of their element in suits.
As they pull up to the check-in booth we can feel the tension as documents are handed over and calls are made. The humidity is visible with sweat dripping down all three occupants' faces as well as the face of the British officer. The officer looks highly uncertain about letting these men through and we can see the increased agitation on their faces as they watch with contempt. The men are discussing something in an unintelligible language and motions are made which suggest that they are contemplating violence. We get the impression that it would be more out of a sense of a lack of respect from the British officer in not letting them through, however, rather than in order to infiltrate the consulate.
Suddenly the OK is given and the men are waved through with the officer watching the whole time.
The men pull up to the front and disembark the car. The camera has panned out giving the impression that the men are being spied upon from afar. The men are greeted by aides to the Consul General; a man and a woman of little interest; and armed guards. Few words are exchanged with the visitors clearly still annoyed.
We follow the men as they stroll through the halls, contempt at their surroundings still visible on their faces. They are taken to a large office.
One of the aides knocks on the door and opens it. The three men enter the office as they are greeted by the Consul General who looks troubled and on edge at the appearance of the three men. One of the aides closes the door behind them all.
An attempt at pleasantries is made with all three visitors making it clear that any attempt at hospitality is beneath them. Somehow, the tension increases.
The men are carrying a large dossier which they hand to the consul. They sit down and make themselves at home whilst the consult reviews the papers.
"I see" he says and hands the papers to his remaining aide.
Conversation begins with the three visitors clearly in control. They are discussing a developing crisis and we understand that whatever has been presented to the consul is of great potentially pivotal importance.
Suddenly, one of the men gets extremely agitated and is eager for a conclusion to this meeting. All three men are preparing for violence and we know that things are coming to a head.
"So?!" Shouts one of the men, "Do you have an answer?"
"I'm not sure" responds the Consul General as the camera pans in to his face, sweat dripping down, "what do you think, Bond?"
Suddenly, the men look alarmed and we hear the silenced "pew, pew, pew" of three gunshots. All three men fall to the floor. Two dead, one dying.
"Bond??" the dying man stammers as the aide walks over and crouches down.
The camera pans to his face as he says "Bond, James Bond" and a final gunshot finishes off the man.
WoodyManic@reddit
Just don't acknowledge Bond's death. Recast the role and keep carrying on.
bommy1025@reddit
Just clone him
callacrap@reddit
I’d love to see younger Bond, what he was doing before and how he was recruited. It could end with him being given the 007 name and I think I’d be happy!
Rr0gu3_5uture@reddit
Basically, make it feel like the Connery-era Bond films. Forget trying to imitate the Bourne franchise. Shoot on film, using CG only when absolutely necessary. The story: Bond saving the world from some evil tech bro. Along the way, he hooks up with a smoking-hot babe named Fanny Akimbo, and by the closing credits they’re still together, boning somewhere spectacular - an air balloon, in space, atop a pyramid, whatever’s visually striking.
For the soundtrack get somebody decent like Queens of the Stone Age to team up with Hans Zimmer - no shitty pop. A diverse cast is fine, but ditch the airy-fairy “modern audience” bollocks; keep it sharp, fun, and classic OG Bond, sex it up a bit n'all , lol.
urkermannenkoor@reddit
Doesn't matter imho.
Just start over without acknowledging the previous version. Bond does not have or need consistent lore.
Talysn@reddit
just slap a new actor in the role, do a film.
dont even mention the death, dont worry about continuity, dont reference the past films.
just make a stand alone bond film.
UKS1977@reddit
Bond didn't die. He was blown into the water, picked up by the Russians, plastic surgery to fix the damage and then brainwashed to become their assassin. He breaks the washing in the first twenty minutes and then is sent as a spy into the evil Russian supervillains lair.
Like old EON films, we have very limited continuity across - we forget the wife and daughter by never mentioning them again. We edit the end of NTTD to make the death slightly Less overt. Or just ignore that as well.
LakeBeginning4275@reddit
I wondered that and think that they might make films about earlier years missions
Efficient-Humor-5648@reddit
It’s forever ruined now that Bezos owns the franchise.
ResponsibilityRare10@reddit
They should take the limited series approach. Get someone in for 3 or 4 movies, with a narrative arc that spans all of them. Something in the mood of True Detective Series 1 is what I’d like, I think it fits the zeitgeist.
Roxygen1@reddit
I want to see a prequel showing Judi Dench's M 50 years ago as a field agent
It would be a way to take the Bond franchise back to the era where it really belongs
squigs@reddit
Set it in the 1960s. The cold war was a much better plot motivation than insane billionaire megalomaniacs. It would make it a clear reboot so we wouldn't need any continuity.
Hame_Impala@reddit
Also lets you portray Bond as a bit more of a sexist dinosaur, as the character originally was, without it seeming too archaic or weird. Can function as more of an anti-hero within that environment.
harryTMM@reddit
gestures in the general direction of the casino royale book
ProtoplanetaryNebula@reddit
Oh yeah. This would be amazing. Bond in Carnaby street driving a mini with guns hidden under the lights.
Tacklestiffener@reddit
Agreed. Or even 1953 when Bond first appeared. Less gadgetry and more Cold War intrigue.
Terrible-Group-9602@reddit
007 is a code name for an MI6 operative. When one 007 dies, another agent gets the number. It's that simple.
Mclarenrob2@reddit
They don't even need to cover that, just go back to young Bond.
Spike_Milligoon@reddit
It starts with Judi Dench getting out of the shower and finding pierce brosnan in bed
Xenozip3371Alpha@reddit
...honestly your comment comes across as exaggerating, but that is absolutely something I can imagine happening in a Bond movie.
harryTMM@reddit
i mean Craigbond did break into her house twice in casino royale and skyfall
setokaiba22@reddit
“Care to dry off M?”
“Oh towel off 007, and get the hell out of my bed” .. or something
Known-Ad-1556@reddit
And make the whole Daniel Craig bit a dream like in Dallas…
Trilobite_Tom@reddit
Sigh. unzips
heyzeus92@reddit
They should get Judi Dench back, leading a group of female agents to help save people paying too much for their car insurance. It's a natural progression of the story
howunoriginal2019@reddit
I would start fresh with a new younger Bond, have 3 movies with a through plot, so you can build towards a larger plot. Then if it ain’t working, kill that Bond or have the opportunity to do it at the end. Make Bond a code name rather than necessarily being, the guy. I like the idea that Bond can be killed, it makes it more interesting.
Obviously people will hate this idea, including all my friends whom I’ve discussed it with.
I get why, but it keeps the idea fresh.
CaptainYorkie1@reddit
Daniel's Bond is pretty much it's own thing anyways separated from the Bond of Connery to Bronson which is considered one Bond.
It be more about should they continue from Bronson or make their own again. With the talent they got I think they'll be fine.
Logical_Summer7689@reddit
Cast Henry Cavill and set it during the Cold War.
Instant box office success and by default better than any of the Daniel Craig films which are boring and forgettable
AlGunner@reddit
They're always doing stuff like that in films. They just make it so it was set up to look like they died so they can go on a top secret undercover mission. Well within the realms of cinema.
louse_yer_pints@reddit
They could throw themselves completely into the codename Bond theory and say it out loud and reference the last Bond in the new film.
Mavericktoad@reddit
I've always wanted a Bond film that felt as gritty, emotional and realistic like the Craig era but was set during the book timeline. Or even a cold war era style
londongas@reddit
I guess they can a Dark Knight Rises somehow in Italy style twist?
Mixed_Fabrics@reddit
Just set this story in the past, before NTTD…
KeithBeall@reddit
Given that:
a) James Bond appears to be a real name of a particular person (Confirmed in Skyfall, but I always assumed that was cannon)
b) James Bond has died
c) 007 is a code name which we've already seen being used by another agent
d) the "00" prefix refers to a group of "troubleshooters" with the license to kill to deal with that trouble. (We've seen 006 and 007 work together, and on at least one occasion all of the "00" agents in one meeting to recieve orders)
They have the opportunity to create a new 007, who isn't burdened with the accusations of alcoholism and womanising that James Bond was.
They can also create a "00" universe where all the "00" agents get fully fleshed characters, are seen in thier own missions, and occasionally group together to deal with a larger threat.
Either-Juggernaut420@reddit
I mean they totally screwed up the last reboot anyway, they went from having a new agent just becoming a double-o to a burnt out past it in about two films. What a waste of time.
BigDogOnTheWindow@reddit
Do what Arthur Conan Doyle did to revive Sherlock Holmes after The Last Case
btrpb@reddit
Not my idea but I like the suggestion of sending him back to the 60s.
Entire_Winner5892@reddit
Make it a period piece. Set it in the 60s.
There has always been an issue of what you DO with Bond. His 60s image was of someone who drinks to alcoholism and womanises to the point of r*pe. But if you get RID of all that then you've just got a generic spy.
The Sam Mendes films dealt with this my explicitly making him a relic - he's increasingly out of his depth, the world has moved on, and he JUST ABOUT loves through each film. That way he can continue to be hopelessly old fashioned.
You can't really do that AGAIN. And you can't really do 'womanising booze spy' with a young guy in 2025 since he'll be an ass. And you can't really do it with a women as we don't interpret those actions the same way.
So ... Just set it in the 60s.
RHMoaner@reddit
Why are we letting people who know nothing about or care very little about the films have anything to do with this? Just pick a new guy and make a fucking spy movie.
FletcherDervish@reddit
Go backwards. Follow on from The League of Ungentlemanly Warfare, have Guy Ritchie direct and carry on from the mid 40s post war environment but with the humour
Damage2Damage@reddit
I always assumed each Bond actor had their own continuity, so I don't see any problem
Exciting_Agent4523@reddit
I see James Bond as a designation, not an individual. Play into that and have someone trying to live up to his “namesakes” before him.
Mysterious_Soft7916@reddit
I think the easiest thing to do is that Bond is tied to 007 and not his real name. There have been many Bond 007's. This can allow you to follow all the timelines. It could also potentially mean you can have a former Bond as the villain. Bond Vs Bond. I'd love to see Dalton return as the Villainous Bond.
Mighty_Poseidon@reddit
Is OP Jeff Bezos?
Magic_Fred@reddit
I wouldn't. End of story, RIP 007, thanks for your service.
It's been 60 years FFS. Maybe that's enough now.
RevolutionaryDebt200@reddit
Daniel Craig's tenure as Bond started with his first assignments (the two "k!lls" that got him his "00" status) and ended with his last assignment. All the other stories, from 'Dr No' to 'Spectre' fit between those. The chronology of the book was chucked out years ago
BOLTINGSINE@reddit
Just end it there, no need to make any more
AggravatingStreet660@reddit
I wouldn't bother. Bond has done his thing.
Write some new characters and move on.
Able-Razzmatazz-376@reddit
I hope Amazon make it just as good as their twist on 'war of the world's.
Different_Bake_611@reddit
Have him wake up in the water on the back of a whale whilst the island is exploding still. He pulls out a hidden scuba tank from his immaculate 3 piece suit, slaps the whale on the back, winks at the camera and proudly tells the audience 'I am James Bond' and jumps into the sea, the opening credits roll to a song written by the latest chart topping AI artist.
Quaser_8386@reddit
All the original Ian Fleming books could be read as stand alone, or in sequence, relating the career of JB. This method is copied by Tom Clancy and countless others. Each film stands alone but also contain references to previous characters and so on. Removing that will change the franchise irrevocably for me.
I can remember when Bond had the latest technology to showcase, with brands falling over themselves to get their product either in shot or shown directly to camera. I also remember the Royal Navy showing off its first nuclear powered ship (can't remember the film, but I remember the news article). Even our late Queen played a cracking cameo.
So to me, Bond was always the same character brought up to date each time. It doesn't matter over much who actually plays Bond - the idea is enough.
Having said that, only Connery was the real Bond for my generation.
Matthews_89@reddit
Bond/007.. is a code name for a spy..
Sparko_Marco@reddit
I always thought Jame Bond and 007 was just a code name/number and it could be anyone.
ToePsychological8709@reddit
Go back to the original settings and make Bond a 60's spy again, a callback to the Connery days.
UnexpectedRanting@reddit
It feels like everyone is trying to follow the MCU model.. just make it easy - standalone movies like the old ones
Single-Position-4194@reddit
This probably won't be [popular on here but I think Bond was a product of the Cold War and isn't relevant any more in todays much more multipolar world. Its time has been and gone.
I wouldn't reboot the franchise. Let it fade into desuetude (just wanted an excuse to use that word).
bowen7477@reddit
Just steal the tag line from the jason Statham film 'Crank 2' "He was dead, but he got better."
Problem solved.
Flashbackhumour28@reddit
Id like to see a reboot to the 50s/60s. Proper cold war stuff
Fillbe@reddit
RoboBond. 007 was his serial number and he has to fight his way through roboBonds 001-006 to find his humanity. He's fueled by martinis. Who am I kidding, just cast Bender as bond and get it over with .
DragonfruitItchy4222@reddit
As long as they don't make him gay, black or a woman I'll be happy.
Known-Ad-1556@reddit
Someone call Charlie Higson and get the rights to his Young James Bond novels.
Then reboot the whole thing with him as a teenager.
HashDefTrueFalse@reddit
I've only ever looked at Bond films as complete stories in and of themselves, with very minimal longer-running elements whilst the same actor is playing Bond. I don't really think the death poses any problems going forward, as the slate is essentially wiped clean in my view. The writers barely keep anything from film to film anyway. New locations, romantic interests, villains, cars, gadgets, etc. Bond, M, Q, have been mostly the only constants. They didn't even do the "guy behind the guy" persistent and overarching criminal organisation setup or payoff well in Craig's run IMO, and people (myself included) still enjoyed the films just fine for other reasons, so I think they're underestimating how much most people will scrutinise it.
VOODOO285@reddit
I don't get how it could possibly be an issue. 007 and James Bond were always code names in my eyes. It just so happened that this iteration was also actually called James Bond.
The reality is that doing that was a stupid decision on the previous writers parts because over the years Bond has gotten younger each time. Timothy Dalton looked about 12 compared to Connery. So like a lot of stuff these days they tried to make head cannon into cannon and it's bit them in the backside and was unnecessary.
If they're having issue resolving this tiny story aspect then I hold zero hope for the quality of the finished product.
Qyro@reddit
Why would this give them a headache? It's a reboot. It'll start it all again from scratch. Bond dying should make the reboot easier, not harder.
JohnArcher965@reddit
Simply have M say 'you look a little different... a shave?' Or something like that.
KK-Chocobo@reddit
Cast Ncuti Gatwa.
I dont care anymore.
SalPalmero@reddit
Unless they're considering some kind of 'OMG he survived and looks sort of different but never mind' silliness, surely just re-start? New film picks up, he's in the middle of doing some James Bond shit. Allude to a bit of backstory here and there to be clear it's a different Bond timeline, crack on.
Turbo_Baggins@reddit
If they really want an easy way out just make the last film a virtual simulation or some such from Q branch
Turbo_Baggins@reddit
If they really want an easy way out just make the last film a virtual simulation or some such from Q branch
themightychew@reddit
Weird to me that whoever signed off NTTD didn't confirm what the strategy was for the next film?
Like a museum raising £1billion by selling off all its artifacts, and then bemoaning the fact they have to close forever because there's nothing for visitors to see.
AlunWH@reddit
Surely Craig’s ending gives them complete licence to start again?
They can literally do whatever they want. How is it hard?
Conscious-Resist-662@reddit
No sell it. Take hoddleston people think would be a good in and he may.
Remember Daniel craig chasing parkour guy.
Remeharmber brosnan riding off a run way which s stupid but gokdente open amazing and pierce as went in had edge a bit but also charm and did some f***in
Same as ever just start like is bond and sorry bond needs make like some roles need women.
Daniel craig start amazing but I love how he moves in the roof too day of the dead.
Everyone knows new bond big start. Who could they get, they keep mentioning Taylor guy I'd be ok . Tom isn't it love him. .hardy been to ceaigish could do it. Id love seeing cillian show some chaoos he's acting at such a high level .
Ok don't judge me here two absolute outside interesting castings. Diago who is amazing ok three Jackman could smash a decade he could.
Ralph innersonz finchy galachus.
Ok so I like all that there but tom hoddleston could be different person. Paddy no.
I dunno haha good question
Visa5e@reddit
Just ignore everything that's happened so far. Like they did in Casino Royale.
There's a spy called James bond who's a badass and legendary shagger. Just go from there.
notthatbluestuff@reddit
This story is utter garbage. No quotes except from “sources close to…” There’s absolutely no way the “writers” (Steven Knight) doesn’t realise that a reboot is the only possible answer, and always has been.
No offence, but why would you even create a thread based on this tripe?
MeltingChocolateAhh@reddit
A new double agent has had to step in and replace the previous 007 and assume the alias of James Bond. That's how I would do it.
Like, if I died, my employee number goes into availability and someone new steps in and takes my employee number and my exact work duties over. Same sort of theory in the 007 franchise except, the new employee also takes James Bond's name too. Maybe a long lost brother.
Objective_Dig420@reddit
Bury him in a pet cemetery
scottgal2@reddit
Take it back to the 50s / 60s cold war. Avoid all the modern politics crap and weak 'cyber' storylines.
SleeplessPilot@reddit
I'd do a straight up reboot, set back in the 60s. Bring back the style, campy gadgets and a general sense of fun that's been missing from the franchise for a long time.
BasseyImp@reddit
As others have rightly said, we have to suspend our disbelief that this is the same Bond since the 60s that they never acknowledge, even with changing actors and they never age etc. It honestly doesn’t matter at this point lol
Willywonka5725@reddit
Til James Bond actually died 😳
Significant-Row-4158@reddit
Thanks for the spoiler OP, i was just about to watch no time to die 🫤😔
Early_Enthusiasm_787@reddit
It doesn’t work well outside of the Cold War. Go back to young James Bond (Jacob Elrodi) in 1950s east vs west spying before technology. It has a good basis in reality of the time unlocked now where hacking and technology has taken over.
decker_42@reddit
Bond wakes from his coma in the hospital. When M sees this, she breaks another glass. A nurse named Gladys comes into the room, also to find Bond awake. When asking why he's in a hospital, M tells him he'd been shot by a crazy woman. She then pours him a drink, claiming he's gonna need it, after all he's been there for 3 years. Gladys wants to call a doctor, but M sees no point in calling him on a Sunday at midnight.
Bond asks why M is there on a Sunday at midnight, to which Gladys replies that she's always there. Bond realizes M has her own sofa and bed in his room, because she wanted to be there when he wakes up. Gladys leaves them alone. Bond asks about Moneypenny, but M says it's a topic for another time. With tears in her eyes, she says the important thing is that he's back and they are together, after all, the real story has always been about him and M, which, when you think about it, in it's heart, has always been a love story.
Kinitawowi64@reddit
I'm not entirely certain that you even can.
I suspect the approach is to let the franchise rest for a decade until everyone forgets about it.
thomasjford@reddit
They didn’t struggle when Bond turned from one actor to the other. I’ve never considered the movies anything other than standalone things anyway.
Icy-Astronomer-8202@reddit
Honestly I wouldn't
OkMeasurement6930@reddit
Get a black actor to take over, and watch the rightoids rage.
cdh79@reddit
1st mission = replace the last pieces of evidence not in british hands as to the real identity of one Commander James Bond CMG, with the new candidates dna, picture etc.
2nd mission and 1st authorised kill to earn the 00 moniker, kill the last eyewitness capable of identifying the original bond.
3rd mission = establish the plot as to why James Bond had to be resurrected a new actor.
parasoralophus@reddit
They could do a young bond straight out of training or whatever. Young Einstein was good so it can't possibly be a bad idea.
daddywookie@reddit
Ok, this is wild but…. Evil genius invents cross dimensional travel and it turns out that Bond is a key being who keeps showing up. We just always need a Bond to keep saving humanity. In universe Bond needs to shut down the evil genius, sealing each universe alone and keeping the integrity of all past and future Bonds to do their own thing when required.
Then you can have your Bond-iverse but you don’t have to tie it all together, it can just gently reflect common themes and patterns. Almost like they are… Bonded by the universe.
ConsciouslyIncomplet@reddit
They should just simply ignore it and carry on. No explanation. Let the viewer draw their own conclusions.
Rilkal@reddit
The cowards chose not to do the best idea.
Let Chris Nolan go back to the 60s for a new film
BaldPleaser@reddit
Son of Bond….. The One He Never Knew He Had
Lead Star : Kevin Hart
Petcai@reddit
I just ignore the whole Daniel Craig part anyway. He's just not a Bond to me, he looks far too serious.
Badgerfest@reddit
I like the idea that 007 is just a job title. 007 dies, next MI5 recruit gets the slot.
Magnus_40@reddit
Reboot the franchise and start again with a new origin.
It seems to have worked for Batman, Superman, Spiderman and a bunch of scifi franchises.
They must have been living in a cave for the last 30 years if they have not noticed the whole reboot idea going on. Restart and make it relevant for the newer audiences.
Any-Pomegranate-7544@reddit
Easy reboot it again. Batman has done it many times. Its not that difficult. I don't think many Bond fans care tbh.
I guess the only 'headaches' the writers have is whether to tone down the innuendo and misogyny to appeal to modern audiences or just you know actually write a Bond film.
BocaSeniorsWsM@reddit
I'd love one set in the 60's tbh.
Crayon_Casserole@reddit
Someone (Bond) is in a VR simulation - he's only been hit once and he's almost beaten the best score.
He's told to exit, but he wants to win.
Q gives orders to launch missiles, to end the session quickly.
Cut to new Bond stepping out.
Amazon: please feel free to DM me for royalty details.
interest09@reddit
Honestly, the standalone adventure model is the way to go. Trying to create a complex, continuous backstory for Bond just overcomplicates what should be a fun spy romp. We don't need to explain his resurrection or tie everything together. Just drop us into a new mission with a new actor and let the character live on through the action.
Temporary-Crow-3186@reddit
I’d go for a mission set back in the 60’s. A chance to revisit the old bond, maybe with less punching of women and racism but be cool to have some less techy inventions and bit more old school intrigue and fighting. Similar to borne beating up a guy with a rolled up magazine. Maybe put bond at the secret heart of some actual world events.
whosetoeisthis@reddit
Take it back to the 60s
Strong_Neck8236@reddit
A fresh new start with a new (female?) Bond.
Why not? It's been going long enough, worth a try.
VehicleWonderful6586@reddit
I’d set it 70 years into the future and have Judi Dench voice a brain in a jar
Birdman_of_Upminster@reddit
Just wrap it up, would be my advice. The franchise lost its soul when they removed all its camp silliness and made it the same as all other action films. I doubt that Amazon/MGM will bring anything new, so just forget it and leave the whole lot in the boot sale DVD box where they belong.
TheD0rkL0rd@reddit
I feel like the Bond films up to Daniel Craig are meant to be one character played by a succession of different actors. There are a number of plot points that carry over between the movies that link them narratively (Especially around On Her Majesty's Secret Service).
The Craig movies are pretty much a reboot in my opinion. I think the best thing to do by the writers is to have some guy promoted to fill the role and get the 007 designation and the "James Bond" alias as part of that job. That way you can have an actor come in for the role, do a run of movies and when they want to move on have Bond die in some manly man way and someone else (along with a new actor), comes in. Rinse and repeat.
EUskeptik@reddit
Countless times in the history of movies, previously dead characters have been brought back to life.
There’s no reason why James Bond cannot be thus rejuvenated.
-oo-
WhatsFunf@reddit
A couple of options I've thought of:
- A younger, fresher Bond who's earlier in his career so that you can use a younger actor.
- A female 'Bond', who is actually his daughter that's born in NTD, and is out to avenge his death, but is also a totally awesome agent too.
Leucurus@reddit
Gritty reboot, Casino Royale style, of Never Say Never Again with Danny Dyer as Bond. I'd watch that twice
abarthman@reddit
If the films are just brief stories from throughout his spy career, surely they could just jump back a few years to an as yet untold story.
EdmundTheInsulter@reddit
It could be set in 1975 when he has a red led digital watch and hides an audio cassette in a girls bikini bottoms.
Otherwise he'd be dead, causing continuity issues.
A17012022@reddit
I must have been mistaken, because I assumed the reboot was a given.
NTTD ended in such a way, there isn't anywhere to go.
Funmachine@reddit
I think this is more just indicative of the Steven Knight isn't a good writer, if he can't even conceptualise the concept of "ignore it."
JMWTurnerOverdrive@reddit
It's maybe not ALL they should do, but a bunch of 007: MOVIE NAME HERE films with Lashana Lynch taking on the number would work for me. Honestly thought that was what they were gearing up anyway, thought she was great in NTTD. Do those as contemporary, interspersed with 'from the archive' historical Bonds.
More I think about it, the more I like that idea. Put Bond back in 50s-80s environments where he belongs, alongside an updated contemporary strand. Obviously Lashana Lynch won't please the anti-woke people, but then the older ones can have someone they won't object to, like Idris Elba or... what about Nick Mohammed?
setokaiba22@reddit
Not sure why it’s causing any headaches not heard this myself - always taken Bond to be a different iteration so to speak in essence given we get a new actor every now and then.
Ill_Purchase3178@reddit
I'd make 3 or 4 films that start in the 50s or 60s and each jump roughly a decade forward. Make them each seperate of each other and give each director complete freedom to make what they want. Use all the actors people always talk about, but just have them on one film each. Have Tom Hardy, Idris Elba and Indira Varma as James / Jane Bond.
Take 10 to 15 years to produce films that go from the past to the present. Effectily reset the time line. Then pick a young actor to star a modern Bond for the 20 years after that.
arashi256@reddit
What? How? There's no continuity between the different "eras" of Bond. Unless he's a shape-shifter that's been working for the British government since the 1960s. Just reboot it and stop whining.
Theseus666@reddit
I would be the first person to direct and star in a Bond film
younevershouldnt@reddit
Reboot in the 50s or 60s.
Mostly serious but with a twinkle in it's eye.
TheDefected@reddit
Same as always, people shooting at each other in a foreign factory, one guy escapes in an impractical mode of transport, scrambler bike, jetski, hang glider etc, he'll then meet someone who'll shout "JAMES!" and we can be all "ah so that's Bond now.." and we just carry on.
Next scene is in London, Bond walks into HQ, M will tell him the plot of the new bad guy, and probably say something along the lines of "we all thought you were dead" and it's never explained.
Main threat is AI drones from some annoying entrepreneur that is a cryptocurrency king, and Bond has to go to a load of fancy parties
Gloryhorndog@reddit
Either a) have a proper reset, remove all the overblown, overproduced cinematography and gadget bollocks, flashy watches etc ridiculous numbers of henchmen getting killed, maybe even set it in the 50s or early 60s or b) my preference, put it to pasture.
What it needs is a director that can really immerse you in a story with vision. Paul Thomas Anderson would be my choice.
Arsewhistle@reddit
Am I the only person who hasn't seen it yet?
Was putting that spoiler in the title necessary?
filbert94@reddit
They could do what they did with all of the others - not give a flying fuck.
See also the many different Batmen that there have been. In the space of 10 years we had 3 different blokes play him in 3 different film universes. People don't care.
They like good films.
MuggleWumpLiberation@reddit
Big twist where it's revealed that Bond is Batman!
Princ3Ch4rming@reddit
You haven’t seen Batman and Bond in the same room before, so this theory isn’t as out there as you might think.
Turbulent_Ad_880@reddit
Spoiler, much?
0MNIR0N@reddit
Maybe bring it back to the 60's cold war era. Make it retro but super well shot & scripted. I feel it sort of lost itself trying to stay modern and relevant.
Bobabator@reddit
Nothing, let it end. Instead of milking a franchise for all it's got using the same tired storylines, maybe focus on new projects and create a legend.
There's a reason why some of the greatest films ever made are one offs without sequels or prequels.
SureWhatever02@reddit
Bond hasn't been good in decades. Let it die already.
HouseOfWyrd@reddit
I tended to think of each new actor being a soft reboot. They can literally just rock up with a new bond and a new M and Q and it would not bother me at all.
randymysteries@reddit
They should go retro to the 1960s. Instead of going forward, go back. Also, the book "The Spy Who Loved Me" follows a woman at the beginning of her worklife. It's an interesting study. Bond enters the story at the end. It could make a good movie today.
PhoneFresh7595@reddit
any one can have the 007 designation
Primary-Ad-3654@reddit
I feel like James Bond has been around long enough snd had enough iterations to just be considered an archetype, in the same way as Dracula could be faithful yo the book or presented as any type of vampiric creature. Bond is just a sauve seductive spy.
I really don't mind any take on this basic premise, age, race, sex etc could all lend interesting stories. The series can not be considered cannon anyway unless Bond really is a vampire!
Personally if I were handed the reigns I would do a 60s cold war period piece. Old school spy craft with analogue gadgets but the advantage of modern filmmaking techniques. You could easily have an ethnic minority or female in the role as long as the way they are perceived is period accurate.
cardiffman100@reddit
Nonsense clickbait article. The franchise has been reinvented multiple times, in fact Craig's Bond had zero continuity with anything that came before, so this isn't an issue any half competent writer will have a problem dealing with. They will just do a Bond that is not connected in any way to the Craig storylines. Those quotes in the article are either made up or taken completely out of context.
Buck_Slamchest@reddit
I'd ignore it and just start again, although that could be slightly tricky in a sense as you'd have to avoid certain cliches like "new" Bond or something like "Reimagining Bond for the modern age" as you'd get the inevitable "woke" accusations".
But you could probably just as easily celebrate the original incarnation and just say you're got "many new stories to tell" so that's why you're starting again.
GhostPantherNiall@reddit
One scene at a funeral or the unveiling of a commemorative plaque and a reference to the new one taking on a tough new job/having big shoes to fill etc. Boom. Done. It’s basically canon that the new one is actually a new person sliding into the existing persona anyway- everyone recognises the name but nobody ever recognises the face.
WAJGK@reddit
Just make it a 1960s Cold War spy action-thriller period piece! It's so simple!!
HalfManHalfWaffle@reddit
I'd always felt 007/the name James bond was an operational title and not the real name of the agent, but perhaps a name in honour of the original James bond.
Plus; bond films feel like they should always be set in the 60s or early 70s. Maybe early 80s at a push.
S-Harrier@reddit
Ignore it, wait another 5 years so the cinema going public also starts to forget.
Top-Bet1435@reddit
Just do MGSV. Just start the film and be like this is James Bond, he never died in a cruise missile explosion, this is his latest adventure… and at the end have the Brosnan bond contact him and meet up with him and thank him for doing his job while he was in exile and that his previous double was killed in the cruise missile strike.
Dtoid_Ali_D@reddit
Reboot it all the way back to the 60's and the cold war.
kryptonick901@reddit
Seems so obvious to me: A. Previous Bond movies all were, canonically, the same individual. 2. Other than Craig’s movies there was no single story arc, the movies could basically be watched in any order. Craig’s movies formed a chronologically linear story from origin to death. D. It follows, to me at least that now is the time to have the Bond name officially become a code name, in recognition of the sacrifice made by Craig’s Bond.
Let’s the death remain canon and let’s the franchise move forwards.
Hame_Impala@reddit
They're the same individual but each new Bond is typically a reboot, unless he's somehow able to stop ageing.
perishingtardis@reddit
Bond's wife dies in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Then in For Your Eyes Only Bond is shown visiting her grave. First is Connery, second is Moore. Seems like direct continuity.
earlgreytoday@reddit
They also refer to his wife in The World is Not Enough when Elektra asks Bond whether he lost a loved one.
kryptonick901@reddit
I think it’s a mish mash of both rebooting and continuing.
Caffine_rush@reddit
007 and the name James Bond is a code name in my mind
nicofdarcyshire@reddit
I think they should go full Higson, and do Young Bond based in the 30s, and just slowly move on into the cold war era.
horridbloke@reddit
Have him taking on minor things...
Felix loses his bitcoins to a scammer called Darren who lives in Portsmouth. Bond visits Darren and via percussive argument persuades Darren to transfer it all back.
A real-time adventure with a Katie Price on a massive drink driving bender on the A34 to Oxford. Bond has to follow her and take her car keys off her when she stops on the hard shoulder for a scotch egg.
Optimal-Condition803@reddit
Mad Men showed us that you can make misogyny, smoking and drinking look cool. Go back to the books and set the film in that time period.
Kapika96@reddit
They're sequels of each other? I thought they were all standalone films. Did they bother explaining how he went from being active in the 60s to the 20s? No, so why bother treating this one as a direct sequel?
263kid@reddit
Just bring in a new actor. Daniel Craig's character as Bond died, not the title or the moniker. It's passed on to the next agent once the presiding dies or retires. The only problem arises if they want to bring back Craig which would be did cause why kill him off in the first place if they wanted to continue with him.
GoodTato@reddit
Casino Royale was a reboot too, surely it's not hard to just go "this is our third continuity now"
Fractalien@reddit
Apologise for the pile of crap that was NTTD and beg everyone to pretend it never happened and move on
The version of Bond in that film was so far removed from Bond in the other films almost to the point of it not being a Bond film anyway.
RepeatButler@reddit
I'm sceptical about how accurate that article is especially when First Light has already shown how and hasn't even been released yet.
CheesyLala@reddit
We don't know that he died, we never saw a body, we just saw him with a big explosion coming.
Plenty of films and TV shows where it looks like the main character has died but it turns out at the last minute a helicopter swooped in and saved them, or they managed to jump down into a bunker or something.
Most of any Bond film is barely believable anyway, why should this need to be any different?
finniruse@reddit
Old Bond. Brosnan is back. His quiff is white and he's still slamming whiskies and banging chicks. A new but cool henchman wants vengance.
ThatNiceDrShipman@reddit
Somehow, Bond has survived
Cheapntacky@reddit
The plot of you only live twice. Film starts with a burial at sea.bnewbbondbis recovered and for most of the film bond is believed to be dead.l
mattdaddy2025@reddit
Have him regenerate into Ncuti Gatwa…..
WolfColaCo2020@reddit
I mean, they rebooted Bond with Casino Royale and transplanted Dench into it despite being M in the Brosnan era. I’d imagine you just do something like that
hardyflashier@reddit
The writers are struggling? Can't see that reported anywhere, got a link?
rumoff@reddit (OP)
Here you go
EXCLUSIVE: Bond Twist Has Left Amazon Creators With 'Major Headache'
finniruse@reddit
I genuinely don't get this. Bond isn't chronological. Half of the modern films were just remakes of the older stories. Casino Royal is the first Bond story. That came after Brosnan's last movie.
The solution is so easy. Craig's story is complete and self contained. Whatever comes next starts at the beginning of whatever new take they're going for.
What I'd love to see actually, is an Old Bond movie staring Brosnan. Sort of like that Mr Holmes with Ian McKellan where he's an ailing Sherlock bee keeper. Have Old Bond living it up in the Carib and some henchman comes after him for vengance, but maybe it escalates a bit.
Then, new series.
hardyflashier@reddit
Thanks
TheMeltingSnowman72@reddit
Do a standalone. Set it in the 50's, have a real throwback celebration of bond, old world, old solutions.
Then reboot.
bahumat42@reddit
I mean isn't the solution obvious.
It's a title that another agent steps into.
jawide626@reddit
The way i see it is James Bond isn't a specific person, it's a callname given to agent 007.
Similar to Jason Bourne not being his original name, he became Jason Bourne after being recruited.
Like others have said, The Doctor from Dr. Who as well is a codename rather than a specific character.
Just start the next film with the passing over of documents and a handgun to a person with the line "this is who you are now" or words to that effect then crack on with the film.
Dont-settle-for-him@reddit
Simples.. Bond wakes up in a sensory deprivation tank connected to wires.
It was all a test, he failed.
Unsure of what over the last 10 years was real, he discovers all his arch enemies and dead lovers are still plugged into the machine, he asks M if he can be put back in, with his memory wiped. She picks up a red phone on the desk and says "he chose to go back in"...
At which point everything goes black and he wakes up in another tank.. Climbing out of the tank, everything around him is desolate and abandoned.. Long dead bodies float in tanks all around him.
He finds a note "we can't wake James up, Bond is the only one left.."
Title appears over the zooming out shot as the classic bond guitar riff echoes in the distant
TITLE - "DEAD ANOTHER DAY"
zombie noises begin and bloody claw marks become visible around the exterior of the building..
MostTattyBojangles@reddit
Sounds like The Evil Within
DraftLimp4264@reddit
Let the franchise die with dignity...because there will be none under Amazons control.
LordFlappingtonIV@reddit
Make it ultra gritty realism. Real life spies today are probably of middle eastern heritage. Cast Riz Ahmed and have him join an ISIS military training camp and stop a terrorist attack. Basically Four Lions but reversed is what I want.
TheAmazingSealo@reddit
Have him resurrect in a cave 3 days later and do the jesus
Immediate_Banana_216@reddit
First, i'd write a trilogy and not just 1 movie, second, i'd set it in the 1950's. You've got James Bond coming off of being a Royal Navy Commando in WW2 and just brought into MI6, you've got the beginning of the Cold War, death of Stalin, the Korean war has just finished, you've got a big east vs west clash, a divided Europe, parts of Africa and Asia wanting independence from their European masters. You can have fictional badguys taking advantage of actual historic events e.g. Stalin's death might cause fractures in the Soviet Union with certain hidden elements wanting to start a war with the newly formed NATO to gain power by detonating a nuclear bomb somewhere.
Nothing incredibly serious, he should be cool, sophisticated but obviously someone who prefers being alone, someone who drinks and smokes and womanises...none of which were seen as problems in the 1950s. All starring Henry Cavill as James Bond.
CapriSonnet@reddit
Period piece. Series per book. At least that way the technology can seem futuristic.
JackXDark@reddit
Mostly keep the same cast, but promoted, and lean into the idea of James Bond being a cover identity.
Have Lashana Lynch as M and Ben Whishlaw face a threat that’s both real and also exists in a meta-level, which wipes out all existing double-Os, that leads them to realise they need a new ‘James Bond’ who’s functionally unkillable, and start a recruitment process with multiple candidates from the SAS, SBS and SRR, as well as a wild-card from something like a police firearms unit.
This idea could deconstruct, and then reconstruct, what ‘James Bond’ is, as well as having multiple types of diverse candidates and what it means to have each of them considered as a blunt instrument of a Britain that’s got a very uncertain place in the world.
I’ve pretty much written the whole thing in my head already…
CineBram@reddit
I think the solution is simple. Make all of the stories from the past. You don't have to worry about continuity and they can just be like "Oh this one's a mission he did in the 60s" or "Oooo this is one from the 90s". That way they can recast him as much or as little as they like and they love doing period shit these days.
No-Particular-2894@reddit
maybe he survived
Western-Edge-965@reddit
Id say go back and do a propper WW2 spy thriller
Ambitious_Zombie667@reddit
Reboot it.
I mean does it really matter?
Are we supposed to believe that it's been the same James bond on all of the films in the series so far?
Each Bond is really it's own separate series until the actor changes.
Narrow_Stay_9868@reddit
Completely ignore it and start fresh.
PhobosTheBrave@reddit
Firstly, absolutely nothing for another 5 years at least, give the franchise time to breathe and reset.
Then, come up with a solid story arc that can span multiple films, set it in the 60’s/70’s to make clear it is a real change. Each film should stand up with its own plot, but also contribute to the meta plot which will be concluded in the final film. Maximum of 5 films long.
Importantly, the ‘stakes’ of each film need to increase.
Don’t be afraid of leaning into Bond tropes, paradise islands, bikini models, excessive alcohol, high roller casinos, super cars, shootouts. I think it should however keep the gritty realism that DC brought, previously the Bond series was a bit whimsical.
non-hyphenated_@reddit
The Bond portrayed by Daniel Craig died, but Bond and 007 are effectively pseudonyms or code names. There's no reboot required, you just start again with a different Bond
AdministrativeLaugh2@reddit
In canon, 007 is a code but Bond is not. The person James Bond exists within canon and isn’t transferred from one person to another. The code 007 is simply a designation and can be transferred, as we saw in NTTD.
That_Northern_bloke@reddit
The code of '007' was shown to be transferrable in the last film so that would work pretty well, they could write in something about it being reserved for agents of the highest calibre or something
ByteSizedGenius@reddit
There's probably a cool film in there about someone earning the 007 codename.
ashyboi5000@reddit
Based on the computer game coming out with the same plot...
Anathemare@reddit
Bond was on his family gravestones in Skyfall. It isn't a pseudonym.
DeliciousCkitten@reddit
Bond is dead. The franchise was bought by Amazon, FFS. I have no interest in any future Bond films now.
SpudFire@reddit
I don't get how could it cause a headache? It makes it easy to do a clean reboot. When the Bond actor changed before, there was often some overlap which could make it more confusing - e.g. Craigs first appearance in Casino Royale still had Judi Dench as M but the timeline went back to Bonds first mission as 007, it wasn't a follow on to Die Another Day.
Striking_Smile6594@reddit
Keep a each film as a containerised adventure rather than an ongoing evolving story.
We don't want to see Bond still moping about a girl from several films ago.
Zerosix_K@reddit
Ditch the gritty Daniel Craig aesthetics and more crazy Q gadgets.
Interesting_iidea@reddit
Just get a new actor, Craig died at the end of the last movie and that’s that.
fluentindothraki@reddit
I think there has to be a decision if it should be light-hearted fun, or intelligent, thought-provoking entertainment.
It's certainly not funny and gimmicky enough for fun, and not brainy / philosophical enough for the other.
I personally would love a bit of high tech dystopia but I am equally at home for some clever comedy.
Saw_Boss@reddit
Just restart the franchise.
It's been restarted so many times, who gives a shit? People will complain, just as they did before CR. If the film is good, then it'll be forgotten.
MikeSizemore@reddit
Set it in 1962. Open with the finale of Dr No but it’s a complete fuck up that sends Bond off on a very different path. Each subsequent movie would bring a little of the classic movies in, but events have spun away wildly from what should have happened. Team up with Robert Shaw’s Spectre assassin in the second one for example. Maybe frame it with 007 in 2027 investigating what exactly the previous Bonds fucked up to get her in the mess she’s currently in. Matt Berry as M.
SkynBonce@reddit
I do like the idea of "Bond" being a code name, same as 007. An agent takes in the mantle, discarding who they previously were, kind of thing.
Though like others have said, they can just as easily ignore the previous movies and do their own thing, same as has happened with all the other new Bonds.
Paynekiller997@reddit
Huge Bond fan here, the answer is to just reboot the series and start fresh. Just like what happened when Craig took over the role from Brosnan.
hodzibaer@reddit
Every Bond film is sovereign. No Bond film can bind its successors.
gorore9150@reddit
Where did you read this?
As far as I know Stephen Knight is writing and I can’t see him struggling. He said he couldn’t wait to start writing it back in August!
MuggleWumpLiberation@reddit
Copy that episode of Black Mirror where your consciousness is uploaded to a game as a digital clone.
BusyBeeBridgette@reddit
Lean into the already added lore that James Bond is just a cover, one forced upon selective adopted kids when they are young. That way you can have an endless supply of recruits to call up.
thefooleryoftom@reddit
Reboot is again. They did it for Casino Royale. It’s not like continuity is paid much attention, Bond would be 99 years old by now otherwise.
Drewski811@reddit
The only people who think that way are those who don't know about the films, which is rather worrying.
There was no referencing the different films when Craig took over from Brosnan - and nor should there have been, and that was despite using some of the same cast.
They just... Start again. It's fine.
F1nut92@reddit
Amazon are just figuring out how to milk the franchise dry, need a good actor with barely any other work on for the foreseeable so they can make a film, then a series, then a film, then another series and so on, using Craig's version of Bond being killed off is just an excuse for why its taking so long.
LewisMileyCyrus@reddit
"James Bond" is Peter Horncastle, an escaped mental patient that has been killing anyone vaguely business-man/ underworld looking for over 30 years, evading capture while playing his own in-head version of Secret Agents.
The film opens with him being caught finally, and institutionalised. Over the course of the film, it turns out he actually has been killing off foreign agents, and his records were wiped or everyone was drugged or something idunno. I'm not being paid to pad this out properly.
They do inform him he's a virgin though, and all the bond girls of the past genuinely were hallucinations
Mickleborough@reddit
Have Bond awaken from the dream that was No Time to Die, and go on from there.
That_Northern_bloke@reddit
Go back to the beginning, do them in chronological order, and stick to the plot of books. Do something like they did in the Crown, so you get a quite a young actor first, who then ages as the stories progress
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