Reinvention? I have no idea what that is, but it’s the one thing that’s not happening.
Other than the possibility that it might not be a caucasian in the lead role (watch The Daily Mail’s collective head explode then…), when the series returns, it’s very much going to be business as usual. There’ll be an M, a Q who’ll be “funny,” gadgets, female leads not familiar with your standard multiplex audience, scenes with a bow tie, and witty asides. Maybe, maybe, a touch more of the “Marvel-lesque this is all a little bit of in joke aren’t we clever humour” but ultimately the ingredients will all be very easily identifiable. Bring in Nolan who-ever for their take, let me tell you, their take is just their version of ours.
I don’t want to come across as someone who is no longer a fan (hey, in forums we’re allowed to play against type, no?) but I’ve been going to these things in the cinema since Sir Rog’s debut, and not once, not once, have I ever not felt that each entry was part of a singular collective.
I loved CR - especially after DAD - and I felt it was an entry I’d waited a lifetime for. But that didn’t in anyway make it “different” from any of the others, or perhaps more importantly, change my opinion of any of the others. I still think that FRWL is brilliant and DAD a disaster. Sure, I’ll concede that QoS was a red-line for many, but for me, it was still clearly James Bond.
My point is…the series is what it is, and unless the next entry is a 1960s Jacques Tati comedy, reinvention isn’t possible. Babs may sound like she’s talking a big game, but in three years time, what is presented will very much be like all the others. If anything, her use of the word is code for “Don’t worry, Bond’s not dead. We’re not even going to try to explain NTTD, we’re just starting up again.” Does SC to Laz back to SC to Sir Rog really make any logical sense? Of course not, but a 1970s audience didn’t get the “courtesy” of the producers “explaining” their next move to them.
Someone earlier posted that NTTD might have been a good place for EON to have exited stage left (at least that’s how I interpreted it). I’d offer that SF felt like an end to me. Heck, if the series had shut shop for good, well, from a narrative perspective it would have made sense.
We’re sixty years in - “reinvention” or even “new” just aren’t possible. So if you’re worried that this whole Bond-film thing might be about to take a massive left turn on you - don’t worry. It’s not. Whatever scenario any of us want to try to dream up, it just won’t happen. If anything what we’ll get is something that, after the “latest release!” paint has dried, will blend in with all the others. Some bits you remember, some bits you forget, and some bits you’re convinced are actually in another entry. “No, no, the one in the oil tanker is the one with ejector seat! I’m telling you!”