Daniel Craig is done with James Bond. Though he once said that after Spectre, there’s no doubt that No Time To Die will definitely be his final outing as 007, as the 25th entry in the super-spy’s film saga well and truly made clear that Craig’s version of the character has sipped his last vodka martini.
With the Craig era over and done with, then, Bond fans are turning their attentions to the future, and wondering where the franchise goes from here. Someone who isn’t thinking about the future of Bond, though, is Craig himself. In an interview with The Playlist, the Knives Out star was asked an in-depth question about the way the series has evolved over the decades in response to real-world sociopolitical factors, and how he thinks Bond will have to change again for his next incarnation. Hilariously, Craig responded with a brief three-word answer.
Q: This Bond very much fit this era of the post 9/11 world power structure and was much different than the Pierce Brosnan era or the ones before it. With where the world is going now, do you have any thoughts on the direction of the franchise as a cultural reset?
A: Not my problem.
It’s clear that Craig has put everything to do with Bond in his rear-view mirror at this point, and is leaving the challenge of reinventing the character to those still making the movies. During his own tenure, though, the actor had a huge hand in shaping the stories and his own character development. In fact, he’s just revealed that he pitched Bond going out in a blaze of glory, as finally happened in No Time To Die, way back in 2006.
Unfortunately for the guy, he’s 100% going to have to keep answering questions about Bond for the rest of his career, as people will want to know what he thinks about the next 007 when they’re eventually cast, his opinion of their first film when that comes out, and so on. It’s easy to foresee a time when Craig reaches Harrison Ford-levels of not giving a damn.
What we can say about the future of James Bond for sure, though, is that the hunt for MI6’s new top secret agent officially begins this year.