No Time to Die is the 25th entry in the legendary James Bond franchise, and the filmmakers definitely tried to make sure it better reflected the kind of female characters we expect to see on our screens nowadays than previous movies. Case in point: Captain Marvel star Lashana Lynch joins the cast as Nomi, the series’ first ever female 00 agent.
While speaking to Tech Radar, Lynch explained how Bond 25 will fix the spy universe’s long-term issues with its female characters and said that it was important for her to have a “sense of empowerment” as she played a successful, skilled and confident woman like Nomi, both for herself as a performer and for younger audiences, who’ll be able to look up to the heroine.
“I think with women’s current agency, [it’s] the way in which they view themselves and the way in which they portray themselves as being – with the women that I’ve been in contact with – completely authentic and completely knowing that they’re enough,” Lynch explained. “You see that oozing through the characters in this, both the female characters that have [already] existed within the franchise, and the brand new ones like myself. You just have this whole sense of empowerment that is really important to feel when you’re going to work, but also important to show younger generations coming up.”
Lynch went on to discuss how the character was formed, with herself, producer Barbara Broccoli, director Cary Fukunaga and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge developing Nomi across pre-production and filming. The star describes Nomi as someone who’s “powerful,” “committed” and who believes she’s the best person working at MI6.
“I knew who Nomi would be, because I had direct conversations with Barbara Broccoli and Cary about who they wanted her to be, but also who I wanted her to be,” Lynch said of her character. “And alongside that I spoke with our writers and Phoebe Waller-Bridge who has done wonderfully in collaborating with us. And what I saw was a woman who had agency, who was powerful, who was committed, and who believed that she was the best person at MI6 [laughs]. She’s a Black woman, she’s forward-thinking. She’s unique, and she has many unique selling points that carry her forward in her career. So when I saw her on the page, it was very beautifully written, and I didn’t feel like I had to add anything too crazy. It was there for the taking, and I just did the best I could to fulfill what they’d already created.”
There were widespread rumors that Nomi is not just a 00 agent but the next 007, which resulted in a lot of controversy a few months ago when folks misinterpreted this to mean Lynch was playing the next James Bond. As it is, though, the trailers have not confirmed which number of 00 she is, so this may not be the case. If she is the new 007, however, it would add up with the fact that Bond has been out of action for the past five years when the film begins.
No Time to Die is currently on target to hit US cinemas on November 20th, though given how other major tentpole releases are being pushed back until 2021, fans are struggling to believe they’ll actually see it this year until they’re sitting in the theater about to watch it.