As a franchise that’s existed at the forefront of popular culture for 60 years, and will no doubt continue to do so for the foreseeable future, James Bond has always been forced to move with the times in order to remain relevant.
The long-running spy series would hardly be raking in hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office on a regular basis were 007 still operating under the Sean Connery mindset that was par for the course in the 1960s, but wouldn’t exactly fly when held up and viewed through a modern lens.
We know that the casting search for the next tux-wearing secret agent will begin early next year, and that EON Productions are looking for an actor in their early 30s to fill the coveted role for at least a decade, if not longer. Even though a Gen Z James Bond has been ruled out given that the term generally applies to those born after 1997, that didn’t stop a shiver being sent down the spines of the purists.
Admittedly, it would be hilarious to see one of the most iconic figures in the history of cinema doing James Bond things like saving the world, sipping martinis, and arching an eyebrow while filming inconvenient TikToks and eating Tide Pods in their spare time, but it may cause an aneurysm among longtime supporters of the saga.
The entire mythos is at a critical juncture following the end of the Daniel Craig era and MGM’s acquisition by Amazon, so you know that Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson will be trying to reinvent the wheel without rocking the boat.
