Is it time for a new James Bond?

[genuineoriginal]

Idris Elba teases fans with cryptic tweets about those first black Bond rumors Idris Elba is fanning rumors that he'll become the first black James Bond. “My name’s Elba, Idris Elba,” he tweeted Sunday, putting his own spin on the spy’s famous catchphrase. Although Daniel Craig is set to star as 007 in at least one more “James Bond” movie, Elba has been at the top of fans' wish list to take over the role for many years. His latest tweets are stoking those hopes. James Bond producers also appear to have their sights set on the 45-year-old British actor. During a product launch on Thursday, director Antoine Fuqua said that Bond producer Barbara Broccoli told him she feels "it is time" for a non-white actor to take on the iconic role and that she is certain the milestone will "happen eventually."

 

[Tambora]

No.

 

[genuineoriginal]

The next James Bond might be black, but he won’t be Idris Elba Elba is already too old, but a black, Asian or female actor could succeed Daniel Craig Idris Elba is out of the running. It’s nothing to do with the colour of his skin. Elba will then be 47 and, by the time any 26th film is released, he will be closing in on 50. Yes, Roger Moore was 57 when he finally hung up the Walther, but people – including Roger Moore himself – had been making jokes about his age for years. So that’s not a very useful comparison. Elba would have been great: clever, charismatic, ruggedly funny. But his time really has passed. Never fear. The array of black British actors who aren’t Idris Elba has never been tastier. John Boyega is still a little young. Daniel Kaluuya is closing in on the right age, but might not be quite mean enough. The two actors to watch out for are surely Chiwetel Ejiofor and David Oyelowo. Both can manage suavity and concrete aggression. If the process moved at the pace mentioned above then either two – just past 40 – could give Eon the decade of Bond they desire. Or might they pick a woman? It seems unlikely. Obviously it would be great to see the post-Gamergate collective head explode at the suggestion. But that really would involve the creation of new character altogether. Women don’t need male roles to be altered to accommodate them. (The Doctor in Dr Who, as a shape-shifting alien, is a different case.) They need their own characters.

Why not a black James Bond?

 

[Arthur Brain]

Elba's a great actor but I hope not. James Bond is a white, straight male and it was bad enough in Skyfall when there was a subtle intimation that Bond might have had homosexual dalliances in his past. Nope. This "political correctness" where it comes to film and television is getting beyond a joke.

 

[genuineoriginal]

Elba's a great actor but I hope not. James Bond is a white, straight male and it was bad enough in Skyfall when there was a subtle intimation that Bond might have had homosexual dalliances in his past. Nope. This "political correctness" where it comes to film and television is getting beyond a joke.

There are some people that are taking it too seriously.

Forget Idris Elba – it’s time for a lesbian Bond If, according to the actor Idris Elba, he is too old to be running around “chasing women” and therefore has written off his chances of being the next James Bond , I think it’s time for a lesbian to take up the challenge. Lesbians are never too old to be chasing women. Some of us don’t even come out until old age because we are railroaded into heterosexuality, and therefore have lots of catching up to do when we finally free ourselves from a mundane life washing boxer shorts. Clearly, if an older lesbian, (I can’t help but model her on my 54-year-old self here), were to take on the role of Bond there would have to be a number of dramatic shifts in the style and appearance that has become somewhat of a boring stereotype. Out with the tuxedos and in with loose-fitting, practical dungarees. They are, after all, back in fashion, and are perfect for storing all the necessary spy equipment in the many pockets. Lezzer Bond’s backpack would be full of leaflets with which to scatter-bomb straight weddings, warning of impending doom, and badges bearing slogans such as YBA Wife, and Any Woman Can Be a Lesbian.

 

[Sherman]

They should keep Bond as Ian Fleming created him. I am not a fan of rewriting characters.

 

[Arthur Brain]

There are some people that are taking it too seriously.

Forget Idris Elba – it’s time for a lesbian Bond If, according to the actor Idris Elba, he is too old to be running around “chasing women” and therefore has written off his chances of being the next James Bond , I think it’s time for a lesbian to take up the challenge. Lesbians are never too old to be chasing women. Some of us don’t even come out until old age because we are railroaded into heterosexuality, and therefore have lots of catching up to do when we finally free ourselves from a mundane life washing boxer shorts. Clearly, if an older lesbian, (I can’t help but model her on my 54-year-old self here), were to take on the role of Bond there would have to be a number of dramatic shifts in the style and appearance that has become somewhat of a boring stereotype. Out with the tuxedos and in with loose-fitting, practical dungarees. They are, after all, back in fashion, and are perfect for storing all the necessary spy equipment in the many pockets. Lezzer Bond’s backpack would be full of leaflets with which to scatter-bomb straight weddings, warning of impending doom, and badges bearing slogans such as YBA Wife, and Any Woman Can Be a Lesbian.

Eh, I'm all for equal rights etc but there comes a point where enough's enough with the PC garbage. The Ghostbusters remake was bad enough. I don't agree with you much but I'm fed up of the prevailing trend where it comes to stuff like this. How about a Steel Magnolias reboot with blokes as central characters or Ryan Reynolds as "Shaft"? Sick of it.

 

[Arthur Brain]

They should keep Bond as Ian Fleming created him. I am not a fan of rewriting characters.

I don't mind the more serious portrayals of Bond aka Craig and before him, Dalton but in essence they were still white men who were completely straight and played loose which keeps in being with character. Change that and the franchise is gone most likely.

 

[Sherman]

Ugh. How to ruin a classic film in three easy steps.

Instead they should take the old film and process it to sharpen it up and make it look fresh. Lots of fond memories are attached to those films. Forget the remakes.

 

[genuineoriginal]

Eh, I'm all for equal rights etc but there comes a point where enough's enough with the PC garbage. The Ghostbusters remake was bad enough. I don't agree with you much but I'm fed up of the prevailing trend where it comes to stuff like this. How about a Steel Magnolias reboot with blokes as central characters or Ryan Reynolds as "Shaft"? Sick of it.

I actually agree with you and Sherman on this.
They should keep Bond as Ian Fleming created him.
They should not change the character into PC garbage.

They should make sure James Bond is more like the character in the books instead of trying to change him.

‘BOND WAS NOT SEXIST’ Professor claims James Bond was a ‘stylish commando’ and not a misogynistic dinosaur DESPITE scenes of women frequently falling for his charms and cooing “oh James” in several Bond blockbusters over the last 50 years, a new book claims 007 wasn’t a sexist. Ian Fleming’s fictional spy has often been criticised for his attitude towards women but an academic says the character is misunderstood and that there is a difference between James Bond on film and the man in the book. Professor Jeremy Black, author of the forthcoming book ‘The World of James Bond’, describes the handsome spook as a “stylish commando” who valued strong, independent women with a modern attitude to sex. The Sunday Express reports that, although written in the 1950s and 60s, Bond in the original books by Ian Fleming admires female partners who are not only as sexually liberated as him but as resourceful and able to take on the story’s villains. The author, from the University of Exeter, said: “Bond was a very modern man for the 1950s. This was the pre-pill age, but he admires women who offer sex, femininity and masculinity. His women are independent and driven.

 

[Sherman]

I don't mind the more serious portrayals of Bond aka Craig and before him, Dalton but in essence they were still white men who were completely straight and played loose which keeps in being with character. Change that and the franchise is gone most likely.

Viewers get attached to the classic Bond. When the franchise starts changing things, then they lose their fan base. Business wise it isn't a smart move.

 

[Arthur Brain]

Ugh. How to ruin a classic film in three easy steps.

Instead they should take the old film and process it to sharpen it up and make it look fresh. Lots of fond memories are attached to those films. Forget the remakes.

Hollywood is "Reboot City" these days for the most part unfortunately. Either that or another "superhero" film, "Fast and boring" part 34 or dinosaurs and robots run amok amid CGI yet again...

lain:

 

[genuineoriginal]

Henry Cavill as James Bond would ruin the franchise for me.
I can't stand him after seeing him ruin the Superman character.
I don't want him to ruin James Bond as well.

BossLogic Imagines Henry Cavill as James Bond and It's Perfect It's not difficult to see why Henry Cavill would be a logical choice to play 007. He's traditionally handsome, strong, looks good in a suit, has a charming way about him and has proved several times that he can do the spy genre quite well in movies like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and, more recently, Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Cavill recently said he'd be happy to take the 007 role, given the chance, and that his turn in the Mission: Impossible franchise served as a training ground of sorts. If you're looking to go traditional, he seems like the right guy.

 

[Arthur Brain]

I actually agree with you and Sherman on this.
They should keep Bond as Ian Fleming created him.
They should not change the character into PC garbage.

They should make sure James Bond is more like the character in the books instead of trying to change him.

‘BOND WAS NOT SEXIST’ Professor claims James Bond was a ‘stylish commando’ and not a misogynistic dinosaur DESPITE scenes of women frequently falling for his charms and cooing “oh James” in several Bond blockbusters over the last 50 years, a new book claims 007 wasn’t a sexist. Ian Fleming’s fictional spy has often been criticised for his attitude towards women but an academic says the character is misunderstood and that there is a difference between James Bond on film and the man in the book. Professor Jeremy Black, author of the forthcoming book ‘The World of James Bond’, describes the handsome spook as a “stylish commando” who valued strong, independent women with a modern attitude to sex. The Sunday Express reports that, although written in the 1950s and 60s, Bond in the original books by Ian Fleming admires female partners who are not only as sexually liberated as him but as resourceful and able to take on the story’s villains. The author, from the University of Exeter, said: “Bond was a very modern man for the 1950s. This was the pre-pill age, but he admires women who offer sex, femininity and masculinity. His women are independent and driven.

Interesting. I think Craig's and Dalton's portrayal of Bond is more in keeping with that although Connery is still classic.

 

[Arthur Brain]

Viewers get attached to the classic Bond. When the franchise starts changing things, then they lose their fan base. Business wise it isn't a smart move.

It certainly isn't and it remains to be seen whether the BBC has shot itself in the foot with the casting of Jodie Whitaker as a female Dr Who. That was just another PC move and it's simply tiresome.

 

[genuineoriginal]

Interesting. I think Craig's and Dalton's portrayal of Bond is more in keeping with that although Connery is still classic.

Sean Connery was the best.
Daniel Craig surprised me, but I think he was a great James Bond.

The one I think did the worst is Pierce Brosnan, though I loved him in Remington Steele.

 

[Sherman]

It certainly isn't and it remains to be seen whether the BBC has shot itself in the foot with the casting of Jodie Whitaker as a female Dr Who. That was just another PC move and it's simply tiresome.

That is sad to hear. BBC has always been a cut above Hollywood. I never really watched Dr. Who. I do have the new Sherlock Holmes series. I have the entire Hercules Poirot series. I also have their Pride and Prejudice miniseries.

 

[Arthur Brain]

Sean Connery was the best.
Daniel Craig surprised me, but I think he was a great James Bond.

The one I think did the worst is Pierce Brosnan, though I loved him in Remington Steele.

Bond got too gadget driven and cartoonish with Brosnan although that wasn't his fault but he was pretty much just drifting through the role. Craig brought a much needed edge and believability even if the stunts were still outlandish.

 

[Arthur Brain]

That is sad to hear. BBC has always been a cut above Hollywood. I never really watched Dr. Who. I do have the new Sherlock Holmes series. I have the entire Hercules Poirot series. I also have their Pride and Prejudice miniseries.

It was on the cards unfortunately and in a way it could be reasoned that "the doctor" is an alien being capable of regeneration so why not? Except that in all of his previous incarnations he's always been a white man of varying age. What's more, until Tenant's portrayal he'd always been "asexual" in that he'd never pursued romance with any of his female companions or counterparts. Then, with the Rose character there was an obvious chemistry that ended up with them all but getting things together until it was too late (subtly of course) and that was that. Probably just as well as Rose's character was a human female attracted to a man doctor and probably would have had some difficulties with his regeneration into a woman...

What really grates is the PC factor of it as if there's some sort of profound point in changing classics. Times have changed as it is and AFAIC that's a good thing in itself.

David Suchet pretty much was Poirot...

 

[genuineoriginal]

It was on the cards unfortunately and in a way it could be reasoned that "the doctor" is an alien being capable of regeneration so why not? Except that in all of his previous incarnations he's always been a white man of varying age. What's more, until Tenant's portrayal he'd always been "asexual" in that he'd never pursued romance with any of his female companions or counterparts. Then, with the Rose character there was an obvious chemistry that ended up with them all but getting things together until it was too late (subtly of course) and that was that. Probably just as well as Rose's character was a human female attracted to a man doctor and probably would have had some difficulties with his regeneration into a woman...

I watched Dr. Who when he was the guy with the scarf and when he turned into the guy with the celery stalk.
I lost track of him after that.

What really grates is the PC factor of it as if there's some sort of profound point in changing classics. Times have changed as it is and AFAIC that's a good thing in itself.

David Suchet pretty much was Poirot...

I liked Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in the newest Murder on the Orient Express movie.