Honestly, what I’d really love them to do (knowing full well that they would NEVER do this) is a satirical Starship Troopers approach, where the fans screaming for a “He just gets an assignment and carries out a mission” type film are given exactly that - but it’s a morally disastrous mission where Bond has to take out a left wing political figure or a rogue royal or he has to install a dictator or any number of the nasty things spy agencies do, without repercussion. Have a film where Bond is presented the exact way he was in the classic films, but wherein the subtext is that Bond is far more of a villain than the people he’s taking down. There’s so much you could do with that.
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Absolutely, 100%, NO REBOOT. I wouldn’t mind a return to the original timeline and have the Craig films exist as their own universe. Bond 26 picks up after Die Another Day (or Everything or Nothing, Brosnan considers it canon and that’s good enough for me), and we go back to individualized films. I could also see a potential adaptation where Craig’s Bond survives (somehow) and we get the amnesia storyline with Bond 7. Though, I think the most likely option, is Bond 26 is a soft reboot with a new continuity, but with an established agent a la Dr. No. I don’t want to see the origin story again.
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There is usually a correction of some kind with a new Bond. With Dalton, it was going darker after the excess of Moore. With Craig it was in a similar vein. Bond #7 retaining the fantastical elements of Craig’s last two but not being so emotionally exhausting would be my preference. I don’t think the new actor would want to compete with Craig in that regard either, just as Craig wanted to do his own thing.
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I think a tonal shift is definitely called for. In the same way that Bond changed in a response to 9/11 the pandemic is one of those events that is going to fundamentally change the entertainment landscape. While I don’t know how things will look when the dust settles my preference right now would be for a much lighter, more feelgood Bond experience.
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100% agree with “this time it’s NOT personal”
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you can have emotion w/o it being personal. See Moore’s delivery of the line “Brilliant. I’m almost speeches with admiration” in AVTAK. Make the emotion a reaction to how bad the villan is.
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new Bond should split the difference. Not as dark as Craig, not as lighthearted as Moore/Brosnan, not as brooding as Dalton… therefore someone more like Connery
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nod to Craig arch similar to Lazenby’s line “this never happened to the other fella.” Quick, audience smiles knowingly… then move on. As if Bond never left, never died.
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also definitely don’t want to overcorrect back to DAD style Bonds. NTTD was the perfect balance between fantasy and arthouse/minimalistic/subtle Bond. It’s all about ballance.
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I completely agree that we don’t need to return to Die Another Day levels of absurdity, the OTT action and true save the world plot of NTTD was a welcome return. None of the other 4 Craig films had a save the world plot. Spectre tried, but when governments of the world were already doing total (and totally illegal) global surveillance, it kind of trivializes Oberhauser…erm…Blofeld doing it.
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Reposting. Wanted to make sure you knew I was replying. Sorry still getting the hang of this.
Oh this brings up another thing I don’t need to see in future Bond films… I don’t want any more villan plots that are a little too “on the nose” as commentary on what going on in the real world right now. I kinda of get the “we have to keep Bond relevant” thing, but that doesn’t have to extend to commentary on the real world. I go to movies to escape the real world.
Just give me a really bad villan and NTTD-type fantasy/art balance and let’s go.
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I’d like to see a caper. The bad guys stealing precious commodities or works of art to fund something terrible or just for their own enrichment.
They should Bobby Ewing-Halloween 2018 this b**** and start over. Bond should be in his 30s again. Youthful but not wet behind the ears like he was in Dr. No. I really liked Robert Pattinson in Tenet. I’d had never seen in anything and I saw Bond all day long while watching him. I’d keep Ralph Fines and all the other MI6 actors. I’d try another SMERSH story, which I thought was a huge opportunity after QOS and they didn’t seize it. I wanna see:
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A mission that has nothing personal or emotionally cathartic gravitas to it. It’s straight business.
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Bond needs to get more action…of the bedroom variety. Think about how lockdown and covid anxiety has ruined the sex lives of single people. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see a hero getting some tail with impunity again? And let’s stop apologizing that Woman are beautiful and sexy creatures too. Capitulating to the PC mob by making women “equals” and therefore they cannot be “objectified” is boring as hell and is like taking the alcohol out of an adult beverage. Besides, Bond is clearly objectified in his era. He is the most famously ripped Bond ever. I want Honey Rider coming out of the sea like the good ol days.
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Get Bond on Skis and in scuba gear again.
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I’d hire Alex Pina, the creator of Money Heist to write the script. I would still invite Cary Fuganaka back because he did a good job visually despite a massively flawed script.
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BB and the gang are really gonna have to figure out how to deal with the CraigBondDied thing.
How do you transition in a way that makes sense/is satisfying to the audience. Do you ignore it completely? Or wink/nod to it?
I like the idea of BB and Co. kind of subtly saying “yeah we know what we did, you know what we did, but we all know good and well Bond doesn’t die.”
They’re gonna need a writer with some real skill to finesse that. PWB, call your office.
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From a few posts above:
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I like this. One thing that BB&Co got right with the Craig series is remembering that these are supposed to be at their core spy stories. You’ve got to have the fantasy elements, but as with the Val Lewton horror films, you can have intensity with subtlety. CaryF got this really right in NTTD. He should get invited back.
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It should be easy enough to ignore it. Craig Bond’s storyline could never be made to work with the Connery-through-Brosnan era, anyway, so it’s always felt like an alternate reality to me.
But I get (maybe) your point: the average movie-goer doesn’t draw such distinctions. In the 90s, DC Comics killed off Superman (temporarily, of course) in a stunt that got them coverage in news outlets around the world, which was great for sales at the time, but 30 years later, I still run into people who are astonished to learn Superman comics are still being published. “But didn’t he DIE?”
Also, by the time the next Bond comes out, Marvel will have resurrected Wolverine already, so I’m sure EON will take notes just as they took notes from “Logan” and “Endgame” to make NTTD.
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This is correct. It’s clear now, after 26 years of the franchise being led by Barbara and Michael, that they, and Barbara especially, have little interest in telling a Bond story that doesn’t feature some significant personal stakes for Bond. We may, or may not, see a full reboot of the franchise come 2030 or whenever the next one makes its debut, but what will remain consistent is that the film will feature high personal stakes for the Bond character.
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Indeed. Different universes are commonplace for comic fans. People tried to connect the Craig era to past Bond movies and it never made any real sense because that was never the intention. Just like how some tried to tie Batman (1989) into Batman Begins because of the Joker card reveal at the end. It was a reboot. The CR/SF/SP/NTTD Aston Martin DB5 was never the exact same car from Goldfinger - it’s carry over iconography like the gunbarrel, tailored for a new incarnation. Casual viewers asking ‘how do they continue the series from here?’ are thinking in terms of Craig’s continuity, and are therefore asking a pointless question. One timeline ends and another will begin.
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I don’t really see that as being an issue. Since Casino Royale franchise reboots have become more and more common to the point where audiences are primed to expect it. Spider-Man has been rebooted twice since Craig first took on the role for example. If they start with a new Bond and new supporting cast then I think people will get that it’s a new beginning.
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There’s been 2 versions of Spider-man in live action, 2 versions of Superman and…pffff…7 versions of Batman, and that just whilst Craig has been Bond*
Audiences get the idea at this point.
*I was going to gif all 7 of them, but it’s WAY beyond the upload limit
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One of the great aspects of NTTD is that it really brings all the elements of Craig’s tenure to a close.
The next era can absolutely start fresh, and despite Craig’s Mi6 crew being fantastic it would be clearly helpful if the new actor can begin with a new Mi6-crew.
Then again, after all those years and NTTD pulling off its biggest magic trick, I will never question the wisdom of EON ever again. They know what they are doing. And even if sometimes I don’t agree with them I will never consider them losing their way again.
Whatever they will cook up for BOND 26 (or already have) it will be what is necessary.
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So, you die to live another day.
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I could see the MI6 regulars returning. The Dench returned in CR, though she was clearly playing a different character. Ralph Fiennes could return and not necessarily be Mallory. Naomis Harris doesn’t have to be Eve Moneypenny (I think the original Moneypenny’s name was supposed to be Jane). And there’s no reason that Rory Kinnear and Ben Whishaw couldn’t essentially play the same character in a new continuity. All we’d need is a different Felix.