# 007 will be played by a Black actress **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078 "2019-07-14T19:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/181 "2019-07-18T21:27:07Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > It will continue as the _James Bond_ franchise, reboot or recast, whichever. There will **not** be a future movie with Lashana Lynch, playing 007, as the lead. Yeah, that’s what I’ve been saying over and over. I’m just wondering if it will be a reboot or a recast. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/182 "2019-07-18T21:32:36Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > MY side? The fuck you talking about? You don’t know me. I know you’re not on my side. That’s enough to go on. I also note you didn’t answer my question. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/183 "2019-07-18T22:22:34Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I know you’re not on my side. That’s enough to go on. > > I also note you didn’t answer my question. Your side seems to be 90 IQ Tribalist…so you have that much right. I can’t parse your incoherent screeching. You seem to be asking me to prove a negative from a faulty position. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/184 "2019-07-19T02:04:04Z")
**[Moderating]** OK, I’m going to make one last attempt to keep this thread alive. First of all, let’s avoid terms like “my side”, and “your side”, because that leads nowhere beyond making the arguments personal. If you absolutely must refer to sides, then be explicit, like “The side that thinks that no woman should headline a 007 movie”, or “the side that thinks that maleness is an inherent attribute of the character of James Bond”, or “the side that is upset about Lynch’s role in the upcoming movie”, or the like. Second, speaking of personalizing arguments, > [@](#): > > Your side seems to be 90 IQ Tribalist…so you have that much right. This is a personal insult, and so this is a formal Warning for **Dale Sams**. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/185 "2019-07-19T02:46:31Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > … We’ll “live and let live” … Given the subject includes racist premises in Bond, this _really_ should be “Live and Let Die.” So pretty much understood that Bond is the star of the show and that Lynch’s 007 is a supporting character of unknown screen time, possibly killed off early, _maybe_ of more significance. I’m also guessing reboot post-Craig as they’ve played this Bond through an arc that a new younger Bond could not just pick up. But likely not starting at a new origin story and a bit less serious in its mood compared to the Craig Bond. Given Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s being brought in I suspect this one will be a taste for a smarter Bond movie that has some fun interesting characters including strong women that also play at the Bond tropes while subverting them with some killer lines. IF the franchise is to transition to another incarnation after Craig it will require that. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/186 "2019-07-19T02:58:48Z")
Oh. There is plenty of room for movies about women super agent spies. Salt, for one example, did a fine albeit absurd, job. Bond though is a male stereotype, a caricature. Bond is a British male who is very much a reaction to and a riff about “the rules.” He can be any race but he is a British man who at least successfully pretends to be a very proper one. Is there still a market for movies that feature that stereotype? I’m guessing yes, so long as it subverts other ones in the process. But if not then the franchise folds, end. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/187 "2019-07-19T13:26:35Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I actually am very curious as to how they’ll replace Craig, assuming this one is his last. Pre-Craig, every Bond was the same character, just a new actor. But Casino Royale was explicitly a reboot. And we’re now in the era of “reboot cinema.” So will they reboot or recast? I suspect they won’t reboot again; they’ve just managed to get a good Blofeld, a good Felix Leiter, a couple of good Ms, a new Q, and a good Moneypenny. Seems kind of… wasteful(?) to turn around and burn all that down now. I suspect they’ll do one of a handful of things. They’ll just recast another handsome white guy as Bond, and carry on as if nothing changed, just like they did in the previous Bond universe. I suspect this is by far the most likely course of action. Or they’ll recast someone different- say Idris Elba, and explicitly include the notion that “James Bond” is more of a role/pseudonym than a specific person. This runs counter to a lot of the already established canon from “Skyfall”- the Scottish mansion was definitely the possession of Bond’s parents as Andrew and Monique Bond. Or maybe they’ll just recast it with Elba, and just carry on as if nothing happened. I don’t see this going over particularly well- it runs in the face of 50+ years of cinematic canon, and more than that of literary canon. I wouldn’t be surprised if they cast Elba as maybe another 00 agent, and potentially turn that into a spin-off franchise of some sort. That might be REALLY interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/188 "2019-07-19T13:45:02Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if they cast Elba as maybe another 00 agent, and potentially turn that into a spin-off franchise of some sort. That might be REALLY interesting. If they wait much longer to make a movie with him, they’ll have to cast him as M. ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/189 "2019-07-20T11:25:03Z")
I think the biggest take away from all of these discussions about which race/gender can play which fictional character is that a lot of people perceive a character to be an image first and substance maybe. I just wish it wasn’t so damn depressing to learn that, to many people, who you are will never trump what you look like even in a fictional world. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/190 "2019-07-21T16:51:39Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > _Fleabag_, which is about as far from James Bond as you can possibly get, but is one of my top 3 shows of the last 5 years, if not my favorite. It’s hard to get how amazing it is in clip form, but here’s a [trailer](https://youtu.be/I5Uv6cb9YRs). > > _Killing Eve_ is spy/action-oriented and would give you a better idea of what she might do with Bond. > > She also has an earlier series on the BBC called _Crashing_, which I have not yet seen. Yeah her Killing Eve writing demonstrates that she’s not without talent when it comes to international intrigue, unusual relationships, and fucked up ways of killing people. Fleabag was great, if a little too snarky. She has a way of springing interesting surprises where I’m like haha then OMG. I think one thing she does well is relationships between people who at the same time can barely stand each other but there’s underlying tenderness. Bond characters are kind of carved in stone though so it will be interesting to see how much latitude they give her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078.md?page=9)