James Bond producer still prefers a male James Bond

The boss of James Bond, Barbara Broccoli, has more or less shut down any hopes that a female actor might don the tux in future installments. In a new profile by The Hollywood Reporter, Broccoli says that she doesn’t think a woman should play James Bond, preferring new characters for women as long as they’re not named James Bond because that’s taken.

“I think it will be a man because I don’t think a woman should play James Bond,” Broccoli said. “I believe in making characters for women and not just having women play men’s roles. I don’t think there are enough great roles for women, and it’s very important to me that we make movies for women about women. He should be British, so British can be any [ethnicity or race].”

Her comments echo those made by Daniel Craig, who wrapped his run as the steely bow-tie-wearing big boy this year. “There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color,” he told Radio Times. “Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”

Since the Pierce Brosnan era, Broccoli and her half-brother Michael Wilson have played M to the James Bond series, inheriting control of the franchise from their father Cubby Broccoli in 1995. (Forget female James Bond. Can’t we have a series about a spy named “Cubby Broccoli?”)

For a brief moment in time, it felt like that James Bond might be hanging up his standard-issue silver medallion with male symbol that we assume he wears around his neck. In the decade six-year lead up to the latest Bond adventure, No Time To Die, many speculated Lashana Lynch, who had been cast as 007, might become the world’s first female James Bond. But, alas, she mostly disappears from the movie after giving Bond a ride home.

Of course, this might change. As per Broccoli’s comments earlier in the interview when she said, “One of the successes of Bond is that it hasn’t been afraid to change with the times.” If the times dictate that it is now acceptable for a woman to play the role of a fictitious super spy caught between a drinking problem and some A.I. blood poison that threatens life on Earth, then, by God, maybe a woman will play the role. “Sometimes it got a little stuck in the time, but the books were written in the ’50s, the films started in ’60s,” she continued. “I mean, the world has changed dramatically since then. We’ve just had to constantly reinvent him, and we’ve had the opportunity with each new actor to recalibrate the series.”

And the world continues to change. With Gen Z running amok, we’ll probably see James Bond wear a pair of wired headphones soon. Could you imagine? What’s next, a woman playing James Bond?