No Time to Die **Spoilers from post #1449 onward**

Apart from the actor, the tone of the new movies is just as important. Apart from the legal issues that delayed and ultimately scuppered Dalton’s third movie, audiences at the time did not really take to Licence to Kill and its more serious take on Bond. Before Brosnan arrived, it was more or less assumed the Bond series was over, along with the Cold War which was the backdrop to many of the movies. It was only when Craig’s era arrived that LTK was re-evaluated as a movie ahead of its time.

Goldeneye was seen at the time as a risky attempt to restart the character for a post Cold War generation. The return to a lighter tone was welcomed by audiences. The next movie/actor will have as much riding on their shoulders to show Bond is still a relevant character for modern audiences.

I think Spectre and NTTD are proof that serious doesn't always equal good, both went for a very serious tone however their plots were completely ridiculous and fall apart at the smallest bit of examination. I think grounded would be a much better word for the the reason behind CR's success, there was no over the top plot to take over the world, he was just trying to weaken the position of someone who could be turned into an informant. The stakes were low and the personal arc with a subplot. Later Craig era films, raised the stakes significantly and tried to incorporate the Bond's personal journey directly into the plot.

Haven't seen Goldeneye in years but whilst it's serious, it has its tongue very firmly in its cheeks that was similar to Connery. I liked Craig in the early films but his Bond became far too earnest and I still think turning Bond into a family man was a bigger mistake than killing him.

Go back to having cool gadgets like Roger Moore used to get to play with.

My vote would be for Henry Cavill.

Apart from Brosnan’s invisible car, the most outlandish gadgets were perhaps Roger Moore’s laser/magnet watches. The exotic vehicles were usually real (mini helicopters/planes etc). The rest were espionage items like suitcases with hidden weapons etc. The Bond car weapons were far fetched but just about believable.

NTTD’s villain with the bionic eye was a ‘jump the shark’ moment for me. Also, the magical Spectre mist that protects Bond while everyone else in the room gets poisoned. How did Blofeld know he’d get Bond to stand in that exact spot long enough to stay alive?. How did the poison air not just drift into the magic mist? …… oh I give up !! It’s more like something you’d see in Austin Powers.

Maybe so, then why did he need the mist to stay alive?

Sam Heughan (not sure if the spelling - the lucky backstard what gets to to be with Catriona Balfe in Outlander) would be a good Bond but he is in his forties now.

I think they should go with an actor in his twenties and tell a story of how and why he he was recruited.

Casino Royale is an origin story but Bond is already a capable agent by then.

I was thinking more of some mission he on with the SAS (he is former SAS isn’t he?) that leads to him coming to M’s attention or something and then a pre-00 mission that doesn’t go well or such.

but maybe he has to already be a capable to a Bond.

A younger Bond wouldn’t mean a prequel - each new actor is a reset of the character anyway. So with the next 007 Casino Royale to No Time to Die will never have happened.

Plus No Time to Die means all the characters have to be recast too.

I assume you mean Cold War.

I don’t know about a TV series but I love to see 007 put back into the Cold War setting.

A set of movies that take Bond from his prime in the early fifties through to the 80s and the fall of the Berlin War. His last movie could have him over the hill and a seemingly irrelevant “Cold War dinosaur” (as M said in Goldeneye).

I’ve seen Crazy Rich Asians and five minutes of Last Christmas. Golding seemed to be playing the same guy in both. I don’t know who Page is.

I think Cavill and Heaughan (from Outlander) would be great Bonds however the more I think about a new Bond the less I want to think about a new Bond.

Craig did a great job and the ending of No Time to Die has me want no new Bond actor for a couple of years.

And when it is time for the return I think the most exciting thing would be cast a complete unknown with 007 his first role.