# I like the idea of Black James Bond. Idris Elba, anyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, actor-characters\ **Created:** [September 9, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994 "2014-09-09T18:55:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kstarnes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4da419/32.png) [@kstarnes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kstarnes)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/1 "2014-09-09T18:55:35Z")
Denzel is too old at this point, and the other go-to black guy is Will Smith who isn’t credible as James Bond. The idea of Idris Elba has been floated and I think it’s a great idea. There is no finer brotha (he’s actually British-ish) in the business right now than Mr. Elba. I’ve seen him in Prometheus, The Wire, Luther, and this guy can definite project cool and debonair without being empty. There will be objections among the [Stormfront.org](http://Stormfront.org) crowd but I think the far majority of people will have no problem with a black James Bond. I never really took to Daniel Craig (too rough looking) nor Pierce Brosnan (too effeminate.) I’m ready for a new James Bond. ! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/2 "2014-09-09T19:41:54Z")
I’m intrigued. I also think it would be the perfect place for the film series to quietly absorb the brilliant fanwank that ALL these men have been James Bond… because that’s a code name. Elba would have to return to a more polished demeanor like Stringer Bell, from the sort of shambling fog he uses for John Luther. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/3 "2014-09-09T20:08:18Z")
[Colin Salmon,](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0758760/) maybe. (He’s certainly got the bona fides) Or [Peter Mensah](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0579795/). ---
**Author:** ![Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eugene_of_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/4 "2014-09-09T20:17:38Z")
Of course not. It’s idiotic. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/5 "2014-09-09T20:19:58Z")
Chiwetel Ejiofor could do it. It wouldn’t be _that_ far off The Operative from Serenity. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/6 "2014-09-09T20:23:10Z")
Terrence Howard has those killer eyes. He could pull it off, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/7 "2014-09-09T20:26:23Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Terrence Howard has those killer eyes. > > He could pull it off, I think. What a terrible choice. Not a chance. Next thing you’ll be nominating Cuba Gooding Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/8 "2014-09-09T20:28:33Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Chiwetel Ejiofor could do it. It wouldn’t be _that_ far off The Operative from Serenity. Hmm. Maybe. I think he may project as too “soft” for the role. Elba would be a much better choice. It would be great to see him lose his cool and go all Luther on the bad guy’s asses with a pool cue or a brick. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/9 "2014-09-09T21:17:26Z")
[Already been done…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdw948Qq1mA) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/10 "2014-09-09T21:24:43Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > What a terrible choice. Not a chance. Next thing you’ll be nominating Cuba Gooding Jr. What, those are two different people? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![JesterX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JesterX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JesterX)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/11 "2014-09-09T21:30:23Z")
It’s not so much the actor as it is the producers and the people they’ve got writing the Bond films in the past ten years or so. They’ve really made it too personal about Bond himself, his background, his relationship with his boss, etc. They need to get it back to simply bond vs the villain. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/12 "2014-09-09T21:40:14Z")
I would vote for Don Cheadle. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/13 "2014-09-09T23:03:03Z")
End the series. It’s not interesting anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/14 "2014-09-09T23:19:57Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Chiwetel Ejiofor could do it. It wouldn’t be _that_ far off The Operative from Serenity. He was my first thought when I saw the thread title: “Idris Elba would be okay but Chiwetel Ejiofor would _really_ nail it.” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/15 "2014-09-09T23:21:28Z")
I think Elba could pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/16 "2014-09-09T23:33:01Z")
Washington did an [AMA at Reddit](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2fki9g/denzel_washington_denzel_washington_ama/) recently and joked about hashtagging himself into the role. The racists came out of the woodwork because some tertiary character in the Hunger Games was black in the movie, so you can bet an iconic franchise character would create a shitstorm. I’m not a big fan of race or gender changes solely to be provocative and create press. It can seem forced and cheap. Thor is female? Alright, I’m not even interested in the explanation especially since comics are retcon city. As far as I’m concerned though, Idris Elba has a blank check to do whatever the fuck he wants, even if only for his name. Ejiofor plays a good creepy person, so could make a good brooding villain in the vein of the last few films. I see him as more of a Craig-Bond than a Moore. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/17 "2014-09-10T00:05:24Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > What, those are two different people? 😕 You can tell them apart because Gooding cries more. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/18 "2014-09-10T02:19:45Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The racists came out of the woodwork because some tertiary character in the Hunger Games was black in the movie, so you can bet an iconic franchise character would create a shitstorm. Yes, and? 😕 Did it affect the box office numbers for Hunger Games? Seriously move the needle on popular ratings? We know it didn’t cause the studio to red-light filming the sequels. Most people rolled their eyes at the troglodytes and kept on either liking or not liking the Hunger Games franchise as they had before. 🙂 > [@](#): > > I’m not a big fan of race or gender changes solely to be provocative and create press. It can seem forced and cheap. Thor is female? Alright, I’m not even interested in the explanation especially since comics are retcon city. IMHO, having a British metrosexual, quipping, gunslinging, sportscar-slaloming, hot-frenemy-bedding secret agent man who happens to be black isn’t such a change in light of the various men who’ve played Bond over the years. Change THOSE things and it ain’t Bond regardless of who plays him. Have all those things (and make that clear in the previews and the pre-credits scene of the movie itself) though the actor is black and 99% of the audience will happily sit back for the expected Bond movie roller coaster. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/19 "2014-09-10T02:44:22Z")
> [@JesterX](#): > > It’s not so much the actor as it is the producers and the people they’ve got writing the Bond films in the past ten years or so. They’ve really made it too personal about Bond himself, his background, his relationship with his boss, etc. They need to get it back to simply bond vs the villain. Indeed. The latest series has been a bit of a bildungsroman…or, to put it a bit acidly, they work unusually well as the Young James Bond Chronicles. Except, y’know, he’s not 16. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994/20 "2014-09-10T03:20:23Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Yes, and? 😕 Did it affect the box office numbers for Hunger Games? Seriously move the needle on popular ratings? We know it didn’t cause the studio to red-light filming the sequels. Most people rolled their eyes at the troglodytes and kept on either liking or not liking the Hunger Games franchise as they had before. 🙂 I wasn’t aware that we were discussing how to maximize Hollywood’s profits. 😕 It’s not really about race, either. People are protective of “their” property. There was also lots of gnashing of teeth because Craig is a damn blond. Or Afleck as Batman. And I think (as do most people in retrospect) that Craig is doing a fine job. Decisions shouldn’t be solely made on the fallout but the “anyone” mentioned in the OP title could include people who dislike the change for a variety of reasons, some more cromulent than others. Want to really change Bond? Make him drink gin+vermouth for the first time in this life. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-idea-of-black-james-bond-idris-elba-anyone/697994.md?page=2)