February 21, 2025 - 4:00pm
When Danny Boyle was looking for an archetypal British pairing for a skit at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics, he settled on the Queen and James Bond. In terms of global recognition, he was probably on the money. For the average non-Briton, Elizabeth II and 007 are up there with Big Ben and Tower Bridge in the league table of great British symbols.
Truth be told, however, the distinctiveness of Bond as a specifically British hero has been eroding for some time. In 2012, Skyfall marked the 50th anniversary of the series and leaned heavily on patriotic nostalgia. There was a return to wood-panelled Whitehall rooms rather than the gleaming modernism of Vauxhall Cross, paintings by Turner, Tennysonās poetry, and the classic Aston Martin. But the two subsequent Daniel Craig films played out as fairly generic action thrillers.
Now there is a new potential threat to Bondās identity as a champion of King and Country. Creative control of the films has now been purchased by Amazon MGM, from Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, the children of longtime Bond producer Cubby Broccoli, who died in 1996. Bond fans may be delighted just to see some movement. Production of the most recent film, No Time To Die, ended in late 2019 and ā with no confirmed replacement for Daniel Craig and apparently no plan for a new film ā we are almost certainly facing an unprecedentedly long Bond hiatus (there were six years between Licence To Kill and Goldeneye).
But others might reasonably be sceptical that the Amazon behemoth is the right home for 007. The creative teams at large US-based streaming services have a record which is patchy at best, especially when it comes to adaptations of existing material. The Rings Of Power, an Amazon original, disappointed many Tolkien fans with its poor writing, uneven acting and slow pace. Disney Plus and Netflix have had similar failures with shows like Willow and The Witcher.
An added complication with Bond is that the series is in a difficult place, both creatively and culturally. Most seriously, of course, the hero was killed off at the end of the last film. Craigās dour and disinterested performances in the later films, not to mention a general self-conscious seriousness of tone, have taken away much of the charm and humour that was once a hallmark of the series. And then there is the problem of a changing Britain. The English gentleman ā perhaps one ought to say the British gentleman, given the Scottish heritage of Flemingās original character and the standard set by Sean Connery in the early films ā barely exists today except in a few enclaves.
Britain is no longer the country that it was even in the Nineties. In the long postwar era, we were diminished in wealth and power, uncertain of our post-imperial role, but reassured by our long and glorious history and committed all the same to peace and freedom. As late as 1995, Pierce Brosnan as Bond could say in Goldeneye with a straight face, āFor England!ā, and the audience would understand the resonance of that expression. Now, our national confidence and self-understanding is in crisis, exacerbated by political and demographic changes. The UK has experienced unprecedented levels of immigration in the post-Brexit years which has changed the cultural balance and cohesion in many communities. Where Bond would once have been common currency, even if not to everyone’s liking, it now looks more like a relic of a bygone era. Arguments about the diversity and political correctness of Bond films have only intensified in recent years as a result.
Hopefully I am wrong and the Amazon takeover reinvigorates the series, with a suitable hero and a renewed sense of British identity. Maybe the company does something unexpected and interesting, like taking the character back to the Cold War. Maybe identity politics will be kept firmly to one side, helped by the post-Trump 2.0 āvibeshiftā. In a few years’ time, we shall find out. But it will be a nervy wait.
An excellent, if not totally depressing, article.
The author’s comment on the Witcher was completely inaccurate. It has a 7.9 star rating on IMDb which is pretty high for that platform. It’s an awesome show. I can’t wait for the next season.
Always been a Bond fan but given Amazon’s track record, doubtful I’ll be tuning in if they ever actually make a Bond film.
Would like to see the series reboot with close adaptations of the Fleming novels based in 50s/60s, but can’t see the money men agreeing to make it happen.
I would like to see a contemporary Bond where instead of stopping human villains, he points the finger at abstract monsters like Consumerism and the Patriarchy. With his invisible cloak of justice, he decodes and deconstructs systems of oppression. Then at the end, he lectures us about doing the work.
It will be an androgynous āperson of colorā actrix
Ah, like the current Dr Who.
Why not jump ahead and have an AI / robotic Bond? Why should a human being be given preference just because of the accident of being born alive?
Bond was a character born by modernity with all beautiful colonial localities and sense of wonder( along with the strong white superiority of course)
Reviving him would be as awkward as reviving hanging gardens of Babylon.
In the globalist valueless world thereās no place for individual heroes and even less for heroism as thereāre no value to defend. And the post-globalist world is a big unknown yet to come. But one thing is rather obvious the word āEnglandā will never have the same meaning of tribal belonging and cultural pride
James Bond as a franchise should have died long ago.
This is from @ClassicSpyChic on twitter, but I thought this was a rather good taster of what may be coming:
The scene: James Bond has been captured. The villain is going to kill him. But wait! 007’s Amazon smartwatch senses he’s in danger and calls in a drone strike! Bond escapes, walks through the massive explosion, straightens his tie, and says: “Amazon Prime, same day delivery.”
Who cares anymore? The whole “franchise” is now beyond ridiculous, and has been for a long time.
All dramatic entertainment requires suspension of disbelief but there is a limit.
The only people who believe the UK has any consequence globally live in the Westminster bubble and they most certainly shouldn’t be encouraged in their delusions.
It’s not all about money. There is still a strong British culture that is globally admired in spite of our bland political representatives.
I wasn’t sure where they could go after Craig. It was a decent quartet of films, far better than the Brosnan contributions. The Bourne production influence worked though the last film was a commercial after-thought. If there’s a direction it might be to treat the original Fleming texts as Amazon has done with Connolly and Childer for the Bosch and Reacher series i.e. period productions set in the 1950s.
The seeds for continuity were laid – literally – in the last chapter. Bond has a son whose mother will protect his legacy and bring him up as a type of Lara Croft figure but geared to protecting the UK’s best long-term interests using all the latest technology and tactics. Thus he will align himself with Westminster (where he still has all his parents’ old contacts and loyalty) when they serve those interests and act independently when they do not. And since he’s still only a teenager they can begin building brand loyalty among that age group and hopefully promote some healthy messages about growing up to serve heroic ideals and developing the skills and know-how to put that into practise.
Let’s go Amazon!
OK, I’ll say it: The Bond franchise needs to be shaken, not stirred.
Season 1: Dr No Means No
Season 2: Thund Her Balls
Season 3: OctoBonusHole
Season 4: The Spy Who Loved Men
Bond is a product of the landed gentry and those educated at public schools who were brought up to be tough, serve and even die for Britain. They carried their abilities lightly. They are a very rare breed today, especially amongst those who shape public opinion today.
Fleming is alleged to have said “he is the product of an adolescent mind…which I happen to have”.
Fleming would have known of people such as Paddy Leigh Fermor, Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas GC, Col Bill Hudson, Freddy Spencer Chapman, Odette Hallows GC, Violette Szabo GC, Noor Khan GC.
All were individuals, very fit, courageous, capable of great ingenuity and attractive
Bill Hudson (British Army officer) – Wikipedia
Patrick Leigh Fermor – Wikipedia
Violette Szabo – Wikipedia
Anthony Brooks – Wikipedia
BROOKS, Anthony Morris – The Gerry Holdsworth Special Forces Charity
No other nation created the Commandos, SAS, SBS, SOE and LRDG which required such opposite characteristics to function. Many consider the British staid, unimaginative and boring a product of chilly cloudy and wet collection of island at the N W limits of European and Middle East Civilisation( Sumer and Egypt).
Expect a remake of the 1954 Casino Royale featuring Jimmy Bond
Cold War Bond would be ideal. They’ll probably just turn Bond into some kind of cartoon animal, which is also a bookish lesbian