The Future of the James Bond Franchise: Bond 26 and the Next James Bond Actor

Spoilers for No Time To Die follow

I know, I know. This is becoming a James Bond blog. But I promise this is the last one for a while. With No Time To Die being out for several weeks there's already been talk about the franchise's future, especially in regard to the new film's ending. Before I go further I want to say I'm going to spoil the ending, so if you haven't seen the film yet, turn back now. 

Okay. James Bond is dead. Well, the version played by Daniel Craig is but as they always say, James Bond will return. The Craig films reinvented the idea of the character and the franchise in general, twice actually, with Casino Royale and Skyfall, arguably the two greatest films in the series. Craig went deeper in to the character than previously and we had the most continuity between films, giving this Bond an actual arc throughout the films. We even got to see Bond have a daughter and possibly settle down.  Weirdly, Bond had to die for the franchise to continue. There's no future in a family-man version of Bond. And literally blowing up Bond at the film's end sends a clear message the next film will be a ground-up reimagining of the franchise.

I would argue the most refreshing way to reinvent the franchise is not to reinvent. Make the next Bond film a straightforward Bond adventure, with an established 00, similar to Goldeneye. We don't need to see how he became Bond; the audience knows the character and what he's all about. We can learn about this new version of Bond through his actions and what the new actor brings to the role. 

Which brings us to the question of who will be the next Bond. My pick is Dan Stevens, Cousin Matthew from Downton Abbey and David, Professor Xavier's son, from Legion. I really like Stevens as an actor and I like that he has a sinister kind of quality to him, even playing a villain in The Guest. I think the actor who plays Bond should be someone who can be convincing as a villain, since Bond has a darker quality to him, often verging on being an anti-hero in his actions. 

I do wonder if Craig's supporting cast will be brought back- Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw. I like them and it'd be a shame to lose them. Judi Dench was brought over from Pierce Brosnan's movies for Casino Royale and it ended up being a great choice, with a stellar dynamic between her and Craig's Bond which paid off in Skyfall. And I think there's even more you can do with Fiennes as M, especially with a younger Bond. And I'd like to see Whishaw play off Stevens as well. 

People have suggested making the next Bond a period piece and that's an idea I can get behind, especially since it'll get us away from the whole "Is Bond relevant in the modern world" theme we've explored in the last several movies. The question I have is do you set it in a highly stylized version of the 60s or do you make it feel like the authentic period. Will the technology be modern or will it be similar to the technology of the 60s Bond films. Of course, if you set it in the 60s you can't make it  exactly like they made Bond movies in the 60s. The way Sean Connery often treated women doesn't fly and even as far back as Goldeneye the sexism of the franchise was being called out, with Dench's M calling Bond a "sexist misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the cold war." And even Moneypenny used the term "sexual harassment." 

Who should direct? I saw a suggestion of James Wan, who I love and would bring the kind of technical bravado the franchise has been seeking with people like Sam Mendes and Cary Joji Fukunaga. Though after doing a couple of Aquaman movies he may not want to do another franchise. Kathryn Bigelow would be another good choice- eventually a woman will have to direct one of these. I haven't seen Black Widow but that film's director, Cate Shortland is also a viable choice if you wanted a woman to direct. Christopher Nolan is a lot of people's choice but I feel I already know what a Nolan Bond film would look like, largely because he's paid homage to the franchise quite a bit in his Batman films, Inception and his latest film Tenet. 

Of course, you could just bring back Martin Campbell to perform a hat trick after rejuvenating the franchise twice with Goldeneye and Casino Royale. Unfortunately, 2011's Green Lantern hurt his career but he just recently had a movie released, The Protege, starring Maggie Q, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson. And 2017's The Foreigner with Jackie Chan and Brosnan was an okay film. 

The one thing I know is whoever will play Bond next will be someone's first Bond and the actor they'll later call their favourite. Bond 26 could be Goldeneye or Casino Royale for a whole new generation, with new fans being brought in and old fans being satisfied as well. As an older fan I hope to have a great time with the next film and actor. So now, I hand it over to you.  Who do you want to play James Bond and what do you want from Bond 26, including the director. Comment and let me know. 

Some musings on "Bond 25"

I'll always have a soft spot for the James Bond franchise. Along with Star Wars, it's one of the big film series I grew up with and watched constantly. And while it's become popular to put the Mission: Impossible franchise above it, I'm honestly more excited for Bond 25- which announced its cast and plot, but no title last Thursday- than I am the next two M:I films. I think this is due to Bond being M.I.A for a while. The last Bond film, Spectre, came out in November 2015. It's the only Bond film I've only seen once and I do want to revisit it to clarify my feelings. I thought it had a good build-up but it made the mistake of making Christoph Waltz's version of Ernst Stavro Blofeld intimately connected to Bond. Instead of just being the head of Spectre, he was Bond's Foster brother and  being responsible for the tragedies which had bad befallen Bond. I had no problem with Spectre being behind the events of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace but giving Blofeld a vendetta against Bond didn't feel like a natural continuation of those films, especially when Javier Bardem's character, Raoul Silva, from Skyfall was revealed to be part of Spectre as well. And like Star Trek Into Darkness, Spectre relied too much on Blofeld's identity being a twist solely for the audience and not Bond. Just as the name "Khan" wouldn't mean anything to Kirk and Spock, the name Blofeld means nothing to Bond.

If Spectre was Star Trek Into Darkness then maybe Bond 25 will be Star Trek Beyond. a more streamlined and simple film that lets Bond be Bond. Without a trailer and just some basic plot details, it's hard to know. We do know Jeffrey Wright will be back as Bond's C.I.A ally Felix Leiter, who will be getting Bond out of retirement for a mission involving a kidnapped scientist.. It's nice that Felix is returning to the franchise. He was gone completely from Pierce Brosnan's tenure and was absent from Spectre and Skyfall. I'd like to see a Bond/Felix team-up film.Felix helped out Bond frequently in the pre-Craig films but he actor playing Felix always changed and was mostly a supporting character. Wright and Craig already have a pre-established relationship as the characters so putting them together with Felix being more at the forefront would be a good pay-off to Craig's run. 

Lea Seydoux is also set to return as Dr. Madeline Swann from Spectre. Madeline would be the first main Bond woman to return. The late Eunice Gayson played the supporting Bond woman Sylvia Trench in Dr. No and From Russia With Love. Maude Adams played Francisco Scaramanga's (Christopher Lee) lover in The Man With the Golden Gun and then main Bond woman Octopussy nearly a decade later. We know that Bond drove off with her at the end of Spectre but it's not confirmed if they're going to be together in Bond 25. I hope she's not killed off early to leave room for him to shack up with Ana De Armas' character. This Bond has already dealt with the death of Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) and Judi Dench's M. I think it's time for Craig's Bond to have a little bit more fun. 

Rami Malek will be the third Oscar-winning actor in a row to play a Bond villain, and the first to win Best Actor (Bardem and Waltz, along with A View to a Kill's Christopher Walken, all won Best Supporting Actor.) I think Malek has the right look (those eyes) and vibe to make a good Bond villain. Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw are all set to reprise their roles as M, Moneypenny and Q, respectively. Skyfall and Spectre gave Moneypenny a bigger part to play in the plot than previous Bond films and may be the case here. I do love Whishaw's take on the Q character though no one will ever replace Desmond Llewelyn. And I do miss  Dench as M.

Danny Boyle was set to direct but bowed out due to the oft cited creative differences. While I was disappointed Boyle left the project I feel Cary Joji Fukunga is an exciting choice for director. Fukunga  directed the first season of True Detective and the recent mini-series Maniac starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, along with the films Jane Eyre and Beasts of No Nation. He's adaptable to different genres. and also a skilled technical director so I think the franchise is in good hands. Cinematographer Linus Sandgren, who won the Oscar for La La Land, will be photographing the film. The Craig Bond films have been  beautiful looking films, and that tradition will no doubt continue.

As the world changes, so must Bond's place in it and the way in which the character is approached. Producer Barbara Broccoli has already stated the #MeToo movement will have an influence on the film. I also wonder if there'll be any parallels to Brexit given its controversy and topicality; plus, the Craig Bond films have addressed political themes before.

So, what are your thoughts on Bond 25? What do you think the title will be and in which direction do you think it'll take the franchise. Comment below and let me know.