With the recent airing of “Doctor Who” premiering with a female in the lead role for the first time in over fifty years of the franchise, the question may arise of when the United Kingdom’s other long-running saga will have a woman at the helm. James Bond has been going on longer as “Doctor Who” and has been played by many different actors over the decades. But it’s sounding like a female Bond won’t be in the cards for a long time.
According to Barbara Broccoli in an interview with The Guardian, James Bond is not going to be changing his name or gender anytime soon.
“He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male.”
Image: NME
For some, that’ll be enough of a reason, but Broccoli expanded further about why she feels Bond is best as is and that more original female roles should come about.
“Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters.”
The questioning came up as it seems the next James Bond film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, will be the last time Daniel Craig will play the iconic spy. And so the question is arising early about who will be the next to fill the well-dressed spy of much technology, weapons, and lovemaking. Of course, Broccoli has acknowledged Bond needs a better representation of women and isn’t ignorant of this, as evident from rewriting the character of Moneypenny to have a larger role.
“I’ve tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, they’ve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed.”
Daniel Craig’s final film as James Bond is set to debut in theaters on February 14, 2020.