Daniel Craig Says James Bond Shouldn’t Be Played By A Woman

With Daniel Craig’s last outing as 007, No Time To Die, finally almost here, the discussion around who’s going to replace him as the new James Bond is louder than ever. There’s a widespread feeling that producers may go for a different tack this time around and cast an actor of color or perhaps a woman as the next incarnation of the super-spy. But, as always with these kinds of cases, that notion has cleaved fan sentiment in two.

Now, Craig himself has waded into this debate, revealing his very firm stance on it in the process. While speaking to Radio Times, the Knives Out star stated that he doesn’t think Bond should be female, as there should be new characters who are “just as good” as the secret agent created for women to play.

“The answer to that is very simple,” he said. “There should simply be better parts for women and actors of colour. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”

It seems Craig is of exactly the same opinion as Bond producer Barbara Broccoli. Last year, Broccoli appeared to rule out the possibility of casting a female 007 as she said she wasn’t “particularly interested” in gender-swapping the character because “women are far more interesting than that.” At the same time, Broccoli did tease that the next actor could be a person of color. Craig, though, seems more inclined towards creating new POC characters instead of changing Bond’s ethnicity.

Well, No Time to Die will be delivering on both these fronts in the form of Nomi, as played by Captain Marvel‘s Lashana Lynch, who’ll be introduced as a new 00 Agent in Cary Fukunaga’s movie. She’s very probably the new 007 herself, which could potentially set the heroine up for her own spinoff later down the line. This is maybe what Craig and Broccoli have in mind when they’re talking about creating new female characters who are as good as, if not better than, Bond.

James Bond will return in No Time To Die, hitting US theaters on October 6th and UK cinemas on September 30th.