James Bond legend Pierce Brosnan has seemingly backtracked on his calls for the next 007 to be played by a woman.
There’s been plenty of debate on the matter over the years (007 producer Barbara Broccolli even suggested the next Bond could be ‘non-binary’), and speculation has been especially rife since Daniel Craig bowed out of the franchise with 2021’s No Time To Die.
Previously, Brosnan wholeheartedly threw his support behind the proposed female Bond, exclaiming to the Hollywood Reporter in 2019: ‘Yes!’
‘I think we’ve watched the guys do it for the last 40 years. Get out of the way, guys, and put a woman up there.’
Brosnan, 72, added that it would be ‘exhilarating’ and ‘exciting’ to see a woman take over after decades of male Bonds.
Fast forward to 2025, and it appears that Brosnan has done a complete U-turn.
In a new interview with Saga Magazine, he said:
‘Oh, I think it has to be a man.’
‘I wish (Amazon) them well. I’m so excited to see the next man come on the stage and to see a whole new exuberance and life for this character.
‘I adore the world of James Bond. It’s been very good to me. It’s the gift that keeps giving.
‘And I’m just a member of the audience now, sitting back, saying, “Show us what you’re going to do”.’
Well, well. I wonder what changed? Maybe he saw which way the wind was blowing in regards to the ‘wokification’ of films, or maybe he genuinely thought about it and simply had a change of heart of his own accord. Which would be fair enough, really. Still, he did seem pretty excited about the prospect back in 2019.
His comments come after Amazon took control of the Bond franchise, followed by the news that Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight would be writing the script for the next film, with Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve directing. Both certainly good signs at this stage.
Interestingly enough, Dame Helen Mirren, 80, also reckons that Bond should remain male.
The Oscar-winning actress, 80, said: ‘I’m such a feminist, but James Bond has to be a guy. You can’t have a woman. It just doesn’t work.
‘James Bond has to be James Bond; otherwise, it becomes something else.’
We’ll have to wait and see who they recruit for the role of the man himself, with Marvel star Aaron Taylor-Johnson currently the favourite. Although there have been calls for Stephen Graham to take it on. That would be pretty special, wouldn’t it?
