James Bond Star Says Franchise Needs “Radical” Change With Next Movie

The 25th James Bond film No Time to Die will bring Daniel Craig’s run as 007 to an end, when it hits theaters this November. There’s been endless debate about how to recast Bond after Craig, and according to one current star of the franchise, the next Bond should be “something quite radical, something really different.” That statement came from Ben Whishaw, the actor who has played Quartermaster “Q” to Craig’s James Bond, ever since Craig’s third outing as 007 in Skyfall (2012). Ironically enough, while Whishaw is calling for radical changes to Bond, he is likely to be a staple of the franchise well into its next phase. 

In his full statement to Variety, Ben Whishaw broke down exactly what he thinks the James Bond needs to do next with its central character: 

“If they want to continue with this character and the franchise, I think you can explode it and do anything,” Ben Whishaw told the Just for Variety podcast. “I don’t know what that should be, but it seems to me like it should be something quite radical, something really different. It’s got to change; it’s got to keep changing. We’re in different times now.” 

Those comments will certainly strike a chord with the millions of Bond fans who have been increasingly vocal in recent years about recasting the character in a more diverse way. Actors of color like Idris Elba or Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page have been repeatedly nominated by a growing number of fans to be the next Bond, while discussions have also begun to turn to possibilities like a female Bond, or LGBTQ+ version of the character. There’s never been more buzz for a more inclusive version of Bond – and never more potential for one. 

At the same time, for every discussion about a very different version of Bond, there’s equal amount of pushback to keep the character in a more traditional framework. Names like Luke Evans, Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, or Henry Cavill are regularly circulating Internet chat threads – and Vegas odds. Even Ben Whishaw has to admit that changing an icon like James Bond is going to be an uphill battle: 

“There will always be people who want it to stick to the way it was whenever ago, and they’re important, because they love these films,” Whishaw says. “But I think you can do both. You can honor the character and the tradition, and you can push it forward, too. And I think you have to, if it’s not just going to become a kind of museum piece.”

MORE: No Time To Die Official Review

No Time To Die will be in theaters on October 8th.