The future of James Bond

O'Dowd might be stretching it a little bit. What about that Poldark guy who was tipped for the job a few years ago when Daniel Craig was supposed to be stepping down. Also after seeing Colin Farrell in Sugar I think he could maybe give it a whirl.

I have to admit, Chris O'Dowd as James Bond gave me the biggest laugh I've had all week.

"The name's Bond. James Bond like.

Have you tried turning it on and off again?"

I just don't think his accent is completely concealable. That west midland's tone comes out far too much, even if his over all accent has been somewhat mangled over the years.

And, frankly, he's just not that good at putting on different ones.

But, TBH, I wouldn't have the first clue who to put forth as the next Bond. I laughed at Craig getting the gig and he turned out to be the best, after Connery.

Yes, but Bond is from Britain.

Not Roscommon.

In the early Bond films Connery's accent isn't as strong compared to later ones.

Deep, DEEP, undercover.

"Sure no one would expect me like"

The plot of From Russia With Love (a film no-one has a problem with and many regard as the best) was an uber-complicated SPECTRE revenge mission on Bond for the death of Julius No in the first film. So the link from film to film was set at an early stage and continued through the 60s/70s with Blofeld/SPECTRE, with I guess Goldfinger as an exception.

The whole idea of standalone non-linked films with a single-shot megalomaniac villain only really came in with Roger Moore's film. And this was largely because they had lost the rights to Blofeld.

So I don't think the Daniel Craig films can be blamed for having an overarching link. Though they definitely went much too far with the backstory nonsense.

When you opt to do a series of movies and are locked into long shoots, etc, it can force actors to put off other roles which they'd like to take up. But even when they can go for other roles, the danger is always there that you'll be forever associated with a certain character. Connery had a bit of a time trying to shed that albatross around his neck and he was growing tired of Bond after 'Goldfinger'. He'd certainly had had enough by 'Thunderball' even though he would make two more. But I think his choices had a lot to do with being unable to move away from Bond for a long time. To me movies like 'The Hill', 'The Molly Maguires' or 'The Offence' are great films. Much, much, better than any Bond movie that's been made. But they're niche films that draw a much lesser audience than the average James Bond film, so they won't eliminate an image that cinema audiences will have of an actor. Jesus, even 'Zardoz' was a better picture than any Bond effort, but all anyone remembers that film for is Connery's costume, assuming they've even seen it.

Poor old Roger could never disassociate himself from Bond. But, TBH, I don't think he ever really cared to either.

As for Amazon…well…I think it's really the end for Bond. Certainly the Bond we all grew up with. That in and of itself may be a good thing. But looking at who owns it now, I can't say that their handling will result in anything but disappointment, and I'm not even a Bond fan to begin with.

I've only seen Mescal in 'Gladiator II' and I wasn't impressed at all.

Jack O' Connell is a decent shout though.

Chris O'Dowd?

Tone aside, I don't think there was that much variance going on with the Bond movies, up until Craig's tenure and even then it was pretty much the same gig. You knew what you were going to be getting when you sat down to one, no matter what the era. There was a definite formula that you could bank on.

However, I just cannot see Amazon continuing that throughput, as it were, and they'll probably try to make it their own for better or worse. I reckon it'll be the latter. I can see Amazon trying to make a "universe" out of this and it'll most likely be awful. For instance, I'm putting money on a something like a…er…'Moneypenny' spin off TV series that'll be instantly forgettable and they'll try to drag as much "content" out of this as they can, until it all becomes a bland mess.

As a lifelong fan, your take may be different. I kinda don't really care all that much other than from an (unhealthy) interest in movies.

Did any of ye see that Brian Cox narrated, pile of horsh!te, 007:Road to a Million…

I think thats the amazon product we can expect.

I refuse to share a link to that load of drivel….