“God, can you imagine? I mean, it would be quite an extraordinary thing. Of course, I would like to see that. I really believe that we should be working towards a world where anyone can play anything and it would be really thrilling if it didn’t matter about someone’s sexuality to take on a role like this. I think that would be real progress. But we’ll see, we’ll see where we’re at. I’m amazed by how much has changed just in the last five or six years, so we’ll see. [Luke Evans and Jonathan Bailey are] both actors who it seems would be really capable of doing it and would be ideal casting. And it would be thrilling to see either of them do it. I wonder if either of them would want to — because it’s not just the demands of the role, but it’s like the demands of being Bond in the world and what it symbolizes and how it would change your life.”–Openly gay No Time To Die star Ben Whishaw, suggesting two openly gay actors to The Independent that could replace Daniel Craig as James Bond in the next film in the franchise. A queer James Bond–either in the movies, or the actor playing the character–has been much discussed over the past 20 years, with names such as Rupert Everett brandished for the part.
Cam
Countdown to the trolls coming in saying things like. “I’m gay but I don’t like this idea because….”
Max
Bond should be sexually fluid. this way, he’d sex up anyone in order to get the mission done. and he’d also be such a sex addict that he isn’t concerned with whatever sex his partner would be.
dwick
I thought that was hinted at in one of the last movies.
JRamonMc
James hinted at he’d been with a man before in the movie Casino Royale when he was being tortured by Mads Mikkelsen naked in a chair getting his nuts smashed. Was a very sexy ti e scene in the beginning when Mads attempted to seduce him.
Joshooeerr
It read it as less of a hint and more in the line of trolling his foe.
Donston
I’m pretty sure most people who have some bisexuality/fluidity in their orientation don’t want the first unabashedly “queer” male lead in a big blockbuster flicks to just be someone who “sleeps with anyone to get work done”.
Donston
An unabashed and unashamed queer male actor playing a lead character who has unabashed same-sex leanings/relationships in a big Hollywood blockbuster would be nice. But it’s simply not gonna happen any time soon. And it’s especially not gonna happen with a character like James Bond. I would love to be surprised though. But it’s gonna be a while before we get that.
PerhapsYesNoMaybe
All that has to happen is for an Executive Producer(s) to get the funding together – just like any other project that gets created – from B monster movies to blockbusters with A list talent.
Donston
I’m talking about fairly big Hollywood movies. Hollywood is mostly driven by profit. Despite promoting itself as a risqué flick, they didn’t even want Daredevil to be a semi-queer-ish guy who still had a hetero romance and a wife. There’s still a bunch of paranoia around selling these big movies in different countries, some of those countries having unabashed homophobic laws and culture. There would also be worry about appealing to “young ‘straight’ boys”, which are perceived as the biggest audience for these types of flicks. There’s also still a bunch of male homophobia, hetero pressures and gay panic in the industry. I don’t see a legit high budget film having a male lead who is unabashedly into dudes and the movie highlighting an unabashed same-sex arc for at least a handful of years, unfortunately. Either way, trying to use James Bond as that first would probably be a poor idea for a number of reasons.
Mister P
A gay Bond would know that martinis should be stirred and not shaken.
Raybee
Very true. Auntie Mame says it bruises the gin!
Joshooeerr
The stirred-not-shaken “rule” is silly and pointless. Moreover, shaking not stirring gives you a more thoroughly chilled martini, if that’s what you like. I even read a study a while ago (god knows who studies this) that suggested shaking releases more botanicals in the gin or vodka and might actually have health-giving benefits. It’s likely bullshit, but I still tell myself this every time I have a martini – shaken not stirred, just like Mr Bond.
MacAdvisor
As President Bartlett put it, “Can I tell you what’s messed up about James Bond…Shaken, not stirred, will get you cold water with a dash of gin and dry vermouth. The reason you stir it with a special spoon is so not to chip the ice. James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it.”
Andrew
I’ll be one of those trolls. Are we that uninventive that we can’t come up with our own story? I think this feeds into the anxiety of society canceling groups. Bond is an existing character. Leave it alone and come up with something new. That said… Why isn’t there a black Batman? It would be awesome.
JTex
I take your point about being uninventive pretty well. I see this differently though – Bond at this point is more of a concept or a social trope. Yes, he’s an existing character…but he is fiction, and an evolving one at that (otherwise we wouldn’t still be getting and loving these original Bond stories). We don’t really have enough of these tropes representing minority groups, which means that we have little exposure to something or someone so grand that actually represents us. And then of course, there’s the children and the teens, etc. Hence the push to have a black Catwoman or Ariel, or a Hispanic Cinderella (or like you said, a black Batman) – it really does mean something to have these larger-than-life characters represent people who don’t get that kind of representation as much, if at all.
So we can go two ways – and I think we should go both. To your point, let’s create the new characters that can become these tropes (will be difficult, but should be done), AND let’s also take the current tropes for what they are….fiction. They can be changed and molded into new stories, still be amazing, and have a hugely positive impact while keeping things fresh and interesting. It might even be the secret to the characters’ longevity in our culture!
barryaksarben
LOL OMG you didnt just say James Bond (an invented character) should be left alone but would cheer Batman (an invented comic character). How the one and not the other. Batman has been around LONGER than James Bond so if either should be left alone based on a long past it is the Bat. I agree we ned to come up with our own characters but all fictious characters can and should be reinterpreted any time by anyone to be anything. Now taking an ACTUAL person and screwing with their real story is a horrid sin and we have been the group most screwed by that. COle Porter as a straight man in the Hollywood movie or the facct that Cary Grant who was well known to be at the very least BI has been shoved in the closet by dozens of books and docs. AN that list goes on and on and on
Cam
Just so I understand, it’s ok for them to change actors, who he sleeps with, his history, etc. but having an LGBTQ actor, or insinuating that a spy, who will do anything to complete his mission might sleep with another guy is where you draw the line?
Please explain why this would upset you so much.
xnetminder
Maybe no black Batman in the movies YET but, there IS a legitimate black Batman in the DC comics. On TV, there is a black and lesbian Batwoman who will be assisted by a black man comic character as Batwing. And, if you check out latest Superman info: 2 distinct black Supermen exist in the DC comics; a black CLARK KENT/Superman movie is currently in the works along with Michael B Jordan developing a TV series based on one of the two comics’ black Supermen.
Openminded
Bond is a brand that has a following of fans that took decades to build. I’m not against Bond being anything other than straight, but the bottom line is, that’s not the brand and the fan base will most likely not pay to see Bond be anything but a ladies man. I’d liken this dream to totally changing the way Coke tastes and expect the faithful Coke drinkers to simply accept the change, they will simply go to another product and tell Coke to F off. There is a big difference between demanding the LGBTQ community gets equal rights and treatment and that of asking the straight community to like the same things as the LGBTQ community likes.
MacAdvisor
The gay bond, 007 minus a thousandth, that is 0069.
Cam
@Openminded
It’s cute when the right wing troll account uses a vague assessment of fandom’s bigotry to explain Hollywood bigotry.
Reminds me of when Republicans like John McCain stated that the troops would all quit the military if they started letting in LGBTQ soldiers. Didn’t happen.
Openminded
@Cam, What I find cute is how the Gay community thinks they are way more important than they really are. I’m not here to bash, but the Gay community doesn’t have nearly as much buying power at the box office as the straight community. Therefore, the chances of a gay Bond are not very good. I’m not saying the Gay community should like this, but it’s simply the truth. You can bitch and whine and moan about it all you want to, but you can’t force this major change on people and expect them to embrace it simply because the “Gay community wants us to.”
Doug
Can you imagine the incredible uproar from people if this actually happened?
Openminded
Exactly why I can’t see it happening. What appeals to the gay community doesn’t often appeal to the straight community and the box office always bets on the bigger take from the straight community.
Cam
Except, no, I can’t.
barryaksarben
LOL openminded? really that is your screen-name? Yes it is a brand but so is every product. thye did try to change COKE and they just did again. If all you do is rehash the same thing over and over you will have reduced results. Before Marvel the Bond films lost audience with every single movie because they became parodies of themselves they were so similar. Now lets look at Batman. WIthout the radical change (per filmed Batmans) that Tim Burton did to the character we would have had a silly Batman movie and that would have been the end of the movies for sure. Look at the success of the move Spiderman : into the spiderverse and how its appeal was all the different interpretations of the chracter. Or the Marvel WHAT IF where NONE of them are who the fans expect. Yes they can continue to make the same BOND film over and over but they will start to lose audience. even the men who play BOnd get tired of the same old. Sean ended up hating the character and Daniel wants out bad. Gay IS NOT that extreme in reality.
cubcmh
Character or Actor? Gay Actor playing Bond – totally agree. Lots of good choices. Bond as a Gay Character? I’d love it, but I actually see them as more Bi – they’ll sleep with anyone (to get the job done, of course.)
Mack
I agree on both counts.
ingyaom
I think Ben Whishaw should be promoted from Q to 007.
Kangol2
A gay or bi Bond? Why not? But I would love to see a gay character or characters representing our current time and moment in a scenario fitting our current moment, which has different geopoliticalt tensions than the Bond stories, and which also might take a different stance towards the government–Bond is an agent fo the British government, which has wreaked havoc all over the globe–and power in general.
Jake123
I would like an original gay character if possible. Don’t think we need any straight white males sloppy seconds!!
Cam
And Bond sleeping with a man would be bad why?
The real Bruce
I agree Jake123. See my comment.
Jake123
@Cam where did I say it was a bad thing. I said I want a fresh gay character, not a recycled straight character. Why is that a bad thing ?
The real Bruce
Bond, gay or bi, never mind. Create a gay character based, perhaps on a gay book/novel. In the early ’80’s three books came out by Nathan Aldyne based on a gay character, Daniel Valentine. Good reading and if powers that be spiced him up with some hi-tech goodies, he could come to life. And he could be a mature gay dude too! Check out “Vermilion”, “Cobalt” and “Slate”. There’s a female character too, Clarisse Lovelace. Cool name, huh?
Fahd
Today, Lashana Lynch, a black actress who’s in the currrent Bond movie was on television and they asked her if it was true that she would be the next Bond. I think Moneypenny is a woman in the current film. So, that leaves us with a big, why not a gay Bond? They could use really cute “Bond boys” to try to lead him into temptation. It certainly would revive my interest in the franchise.
Donston
I think it’s more likely that we see a black Bond, a female Bond, hell, maybe even a trans Bond before we see a “gay presenting” Bond or even a Bond who shows unabashed same-sex interests or has a same-sex romantic partner. 007 is a very old fashioned franchise that depends on the appeal of Bond, that appeal is that he’s good-looking, “cool”, “masculine” and a “ladies man”. A “gay” James Bond is not happening any time soon. We still haven’t even seen a high-budget Hollywood action/genre movie that present a male lead who’s unabashedly into his sex. They definitely are not about to start with Bond.
dhmonarch89
yes- but Evans may go back into the closet, you never know with him- he’s done it before….
Cam
I love the trolls coming in with the same tired defense that Hollywood has used for years. “Oh, gee our bigoted audience wouldn’t like it”.
Funny then how whenever some minor sports figure comes out, their jersey immediately becomes the number one selling jersey.
Openminded
Keep believing in the “#1 Best seller” game. If you look into the game of “#1 Best seller books” you will see that that is simply a manipulated process of reporting sales in one lump sum to create a false appearance of greatness. Graham, I mean Cam, your troll game is old and tiring. You can bitch all you want, but you will never bitch everyone into loving the Gay community. Your hatred will drive them away every time.
Donston
Honestly, both Cam and Openminded are tiresome and don’t contribute much to any conversation. Openminded (probably using a multitude of screen handles) clearly has a sea of internalized phobias and resentments they’re dealing with. While Cam can’t help but bite on every single troll and has a superiority complex.
As convoluted as I can get, I try to be reasonable, sensitive and look at things in a nuanced way. I don’t know what you guys be on.
Donston
As far as whether a high-budget action/adventure movie with a male lead who’s unabashedly queer and has unabashed same-sex passions, relationships, romantic arcs can make money- we don’t know. We don’t know because Hollywood hasn’t tried it. “Gays” are still pretty much reserved as supporting players and for smaller comedies or for depressing, awards bait art house flicks. However, to say it’ll be depending entirely on the “gay demo” is kinda silly. It will need a decent amount of support from women and some “straight presenting” dudes to be profitable and probably some solid buzz and reviews. If it’s the right movie and promoted properly I could see it being a hit.
James Bond is not the place to start though for a number of reasons. An original character or a character that hasn’t been adapted before would make more sense.
ScooterGE
I’d prefer a gay 006 und a queer 009, Together they’d be the agents 69 …
Elizavetaoe
Gay Actor playing Bond – totally agree.