No Time to Die is currently on track to top the box office with a hefty $60 million opening weekend haul, and it’s been generating plenty of debate and discussion online for a gut-punch of an ending. Daniel Craig bowed out in truly epic fashion, having reinvented 007 and brought him crashing into the modern era across the last fifteen years.
The actor gave audiences a more grounded, relatable and human James Bond than they’d ever seen before, reducing the franchise’s reliance on its standard tropes. There are still shaken-not-stirred Martinis, outlandish gadgets, fast cars and cheesy one-liners, but the outgoing star is adamant that Bond girls are a thing of the past.
Léa Seydoux said the label was outdated, while newcomer Ana de Armas admitted that she doesn’t want to be called a Bond girl. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Craig couldn’t make his thoughts any clearer when asked for his stance on how women factor into the series.
“No more Bond girls. They don’t exist anymore. They may exist again, but not in my movies.”
No Time to Die boasts a trio of capable female stars, which isn’t something you hear often in regards to James Bond. Seydoux’s Madeleine Swann is an esteemed psychiatrist with a troubled past, de Armas’ Paloma is an excitable CIA agent that kicks all sorts of ass in her all-to-brief screentime, while Lashana Lynch’s Nomi assumed the mantle of 007 following Bond’s retirement, and makes sure that she never lets him forget it.