So Idris Elba might be the next James Bond

[Shinkicker444]

The amount of raging Bond purists made when Daniel Craig was announced because he didn't have the right shade of eye or hair colour to match with what was in the books was pretty epic, I can only imagine what it would be like if they cast anyone that deviated from that further.

(that gif with him walking away though is freakin awesome though, someone needs to shop in an explosion or something in the background)

 

[Casual Shinji]

It would be very weird, I'm sorry.

Bond has always been a white guy and to suddenly have him be black would take a lot of getting used to. Heck, I had a hard time getting used to Craig because he was blond.

I guess there's a first time for everything.

Like the American President? I think that's a strange take. When this happens as it typically does (whites or lighter skinned people taking roles from darker skinned folks/people of color in general) no one says this kind of thing. It typically gets defended with cries of "Artistic freedom!"

Like it or not we have a visual idea of what James Bond looks like based on the portrayals in the movies we've seen him in: White guy, short brunette hair, sharply dressed.

A black Bond would be as weird to me as a Bond with long red hair, or no hair at all. This has nothing to do with race and everything to do with drastically changing an iconic character's look. And yes, something like that will take some getting used to from my end. But by all means, pull the racism card.

Also, the American President is not a character.

 

[Torrasque]

I'm all for it provided it is done well, and that's because I don't like watching things that are shit in general. I've always liked the idea that each new bond is an entirely different person, and that James Bond is just the name that the agent assigned to the 007 number uses. There has just been too many actor changes for it to still be the same guy as Sean Connery's Bond was. Also, with having Judy Dench as M in the new ones, that is the only explanation, because she wasn't the original M.

I think James Bond is the same person across all Bond movies, but the title of 007 is assigned to MI6's best agent. While that has been Bond in every single movie, that doesn't mean that James Bond is 007 all the time. Of course, that would just be something that exists in the universe, since all 007's that we ever see, are James Bond.

I dunno.

I look at you these days, Idris, you know what I see? I see a man without a country. Not hard enough for this role right here and maybe, just maybe, not smart enough for them roles out there.

Seriously though, haven't we had enough Bonds? A new spy franchise, please.

Random thing too, if you could cast a replacement to take over when Craig finishes, who would you cast?

Fassbender.

Ironically enough, Fassbender is another person that has been rumoured (albeit less so than Elba) to be the next Bond.

my dad is kind of racist... lol

What the actual fuck?

I don't know if you're one of those people who use "lol" as a form of punctuation, (I really hope this is the case) but racism isn't funny. Even when it's "harmless old people". Still abhorrent.Of course it is still abhorrant. Unfortunately, my dad is 55 and is kind of conservative. He also grew up in the days when racism was kind of normal. He's not so racist that he'll cringe whenever a black person is near, or refuse to work with an asian guy. He just makes racist jokes on occasion and slightly believes they are true. You have to remember that racial equality is still a pretty new thing.

So I have a few questions for you:

If Idris Elba actually does turn out to be the next Bond, how would you feel?

Do you think James Bond is a role that only white guys should play?

How would you feel about an asian James Bond?

Do you think there are certain roles that shouldn't be open to everyone? (certain races, certain genders, etc.)

I'd have to see him in the role.

Nope.

Don't give a fuck.

Yep.
Although Bond is a book adaptation I personally have no knowledge of the Bond books, I don't know how he's described. I think any adaptation should be visually accurate.
If this is achieved through CGI (Andy Serkis) or the person being inherently similar in appearance to how the character is portrayed in the other medium (most of the cast of the Harry Potter films) then it's fine.

I can actually understand people complaining about Heimdal but I didn't give a fuck because I am not farmiliar with the source material. Same deal with Jake Gyllenhaal being the Prince, it was stupid.

Jake Gyllenhaal makes less sense than Heimdall though. In Prince of Persia, he's a Persian prince, so he should look Persian. In Thor, he is perceived as being a norse god, even though he is just a very powerful Asgaardian. It can be argued that the people that first met the Asgaardians (the Norse) changed his believed appearance into something that was more acceptable to their culture. You want your gods to look ideal since they are gods after all, and what is more ideal than something that looks like yourself?

 

[Terrible Opinions]

How would they explain him suddenly turning black?

Don't get me wrong, Luther is spectacularly good, and he was the perfect Heimdall, but all the Bond movies are in a sequel structure, up to the reboot, and after. When and why did his skin colour suddenly change?

How do they explain the fact that Bond hasn't aged in the last fifty years? And what happened to all his lady-friends after each movie ended?

 

[Torrasque]

I think that for many fans, this would break the fiction.

This has nothing to do with Idris ability as an actor. It has to do with the requirements of the role. Some people - like in this thread - might totally be on board with the idea, but for many others it will be an instant turnoff.

In fact, it's no different than if i argued that the next James Bond should be a girl (we could call her Janine Bond?). It's just that certain roles has certain requirements.

Changing the gender of sideroles is far more easily acceptable. Making Felix Leiter black in the last couple of movies hasn't really sparked any problems. But the main character of the universe? Sorry, but i think that's a nogo.

So you think changing the skin colour of James Bond is the same as changing the gender? Interesting. I'd like to hear why you think that. It seems that you think that James Bond has a very specific set of defining characteristics, and dark skin is definitely not one of them. Can you list all of the your defining characteristics of James Bond?

So I have a few questions for you:
If Idris Elba actually does turn out to be the next Bond, how would you feel?
Do you think James Bond is a role that only white guys should play?
How would you feel about an asian James Bond?
Do you think there are certain roles that shouldn't be open to everyone? (certain races, certain genders, etc.)

answers:-

1. Not bothered as I am not really a fan of James Bond so even if they cast JB as an octopus it wouldn't affect me in any way.

2. Here's the thing. Yeah I think James Bond is whiteman's territory. I just don't like the idea of drastically changing a much loved character to pander to social demographics. There is a better way to do that, make a new story with a new character. Make Idris a sexy spy guy in his own adventure as "Richard Blocker" or something (preferably with a sensible name), this way we get a new story and a new Character rather than rehashes of old stuff.
Its like making Superman black WHY BOTHER?? When you could make another Superhero who is black? this way Superman fans don't get pissed off, and people who want more black super heroes (Me) will be happy.Ah, but that is the best thing about Idris Elba, he doesn't want to be "Black James Bond", he would be James Bond because he would be good at it. That effectively makes your "pander to social demographics" statement, moot. A black Superman eh? I think a black Superman would introduce different dynamics in how people interact with the hero, but his character would remain the same. I know the public outcry would be ridiculous though.

3. Same thing again James Bond isn't Asian he is British. Think how good a spy story in Tokyo or Hong Kong would be!But there are Asians that are part of the UK and asians that live in Britain. Are you saying British people are definitely caucasian and definitely not asian?

4. No I dont think they should. I think most roles shouldn't be up for redesigns or re-imaginings. Just continue the characters story undisturbed and create new ones. I wouldn't be happy if they changed the genders or ethnicities of some of my favourite characters for no good reason.

Basically what I am saying is I don't like it when big important characters are drastically altered. Altering characters no one gives a shit about is just fine. Like when Nick Fury became Black because if he didn't the Avengers would have been an all white film, and for some reason that would offend people. I loved Samuel L.Jackson as Nick Fury HE MADE ME give a shit about Nick Fury. So sometimes redesigns can be great.

I notice that if my posts are low in controversial content then, no one is willing to talk condescending to me, and I have to get a boner somehow. So with that in mind: It would ruin James Bond if the actor was
A. French (because he would wear a stupid hat and have a thin moustache)

B. Canadian (because he would be coated in syrup and would say "EH" too much) -_- Ignoring the obvious trolling... a Canadian James Bond wouldn't work because James Bond is the #1 secret agent in MI6. Since Canada is not a part of the UK, it wouldn't make sense for a Canadian to be part of MI6. Hell, it'd make more sense for a Canadian to work for the CIA.

C. Welsh (because he would be too fat) I can make these jokes cos I'm Welsh

...I now really want to see a James Bond involving an octopus with a British accent.

Think of the fight scenes!

Quick help me think of an Octopus pun, that we can use to satirise that bit from the theme song..

Do you expect me to talk?
NO MR BOND! I EXPECT YOU TO DIE

*clears throat*

Do you expect me to talk?
NO MR BOND! I EXPECT YOU TO DYE!

Also, how weird would it be for the Bond girls?

If James Bond was an Octopus, you'd need a Japanese director to manage all the tentacle rape that would occur in the movie(s)...

I still think it'd be a bigger twist if Bond didn't fight Eastern Europeons...


OP: Idris Elba would make a great Bond if he could pull of a British accent well enough. To be honest I personally thing he'd make a better villain. Villain's are Elba's forte. If he played a villain that didn't die at the end of it all, he'd be great.

Lol, I wonder how many people in the world don't know that Idris Elba is british. I also wonder how many people think Hugh Jackman is not Australian.

I'd actually like to see Idris Elba as Bond for a couple of reasons:

1) He really is a phenomenal actor,
&
2) If you assume Bond-universe continuity is a thing, it will pretty much confirm that James Bond is a code-name identity, with Daniel Craig's Bond being the original, actual Bond against which other "Bonds" are selected.

I've always known that 007 is the top agent of MI6. I've always known that their top agent is James Bond. But I've always thought that James Bond is 007 in all of the movies. You have to bend the universe quite a bit (especially the movies) to make that work, but it still applies in my mind. If you assume that James Bond is the alias that 007 (the top agent of MI6) takes on when he becomes 007, then that opens up the universe to literally anything. James Bond can be any race, any age, could even potentially be a woman (but that would be harder for fans to accept).

Just a thought.

I though "James Bond" was just the pseudonym successive 007 agents took.

No reason there shouldn't be a black Bond.

That's just a fan concept, not actually canon, there's a few sites that prove this isn't the case. Such as later bonds referring to things they did as earlier bonds. It's just a willing suspension of disbelief. Plus in the books, I'm pretty sure that's his actual name and he's pretty much Bruce Wayne going by the description. Was it the case then go for it, but otherwise eeeeh no. I'd say Craigs Bond is seperate from the original movies though, given Q is younger and just started in Skyfall. They work as a prequel trilogy to the legend rather than a fit to all the other 20 movies.

OT: I have no problems with him being black persay. But I'm going to go with the sentiment of "just make a new character and story". Why mess with an already established character? Given they are all meant to be the same person, I can suspend my disbelief to a certain degree, but when he's suddenly black, that really does screw things up a bit. You could quite literally make a James Bond movie, and just swap the name for something else and blam, spy movie, fans aint upset, you get a guy who can be his own character, possibly a franchise and everyone's happy. Heck you could even stick him in the same universe and make him another 00 (none of them have been introduced yet as far as I remember in the new trilogy) and have them team up.

It seems to me that you are implying that his skin colour conflicts with the Bond character so much, that they should just make him his own separate character, and keep James Bond "whole". Why is that? When you compare Roger Moore to Sean Connery, they are so incredibly different, but are both white. Is skin colour that important to the character of James Bond? Why?

As long as he's still a suave, British gentlemen, his skin colour shouldn't matter. If they turn him into a black stereotype, I'll be pissed.

I think that, when a character is in a multi-cultural setting, it doesn't matter what race they are. I'm sure there are black people in the British secret service. However, it makes no sense to have black characters in, say, a medieval Europe setting, unless their ethnicity is an important part of their character (there were a very small number of black freemen in Britain in the middle ages). It also makes no sense to have a white guy playing a Zulu warrior.

If Idris Elba actually does turn out to be the next bond I think it will be the casting/director/whoever makes the decisions about these things, nodding to multiculturalism in the UK. That is a really smart move and one I really respect. I also like that Elba has said, "I don't want to just be 'a black bond'", he wants to be Bond for the sake of Bond, not for the sake of his skin colour. As for his nationality, I'd say he is no less British than any other British actor that could fill the role, so that should be no issue.

I wouldn't mind Elba being bond if it was established that James Bond was a pseudonym for 007 agents. But based on the movies and novels it seems that James Bond is staunchly white. If you recall in Skyfall you see the last name "Bond" on his parent's graves at the Church in Scotland. Since Craig's bond is a bit of a reboot of the series, his real name being James Bond and it not being a pseudonym might only be true for JUST that continuity. If you were to include Elba, I would have to say a reestablishment of the universe is required.

Lore-wise, I think they could handle that in this way:

Daniel Craig's Bond in Skyfall is the first Bond. That will make purist fanboys mad, but they'll have to deal with it. This makes 007 = James Bond forever after. When Daniel Craig's Bond dies or retires, a new agent takes the role of MI6's top agent, they become James Bond 007. This makes James Bond an identity rather than a person, and makes the role of James Bond, much more flexible.

 

[Savryc]

When Sean Connery took the role of Bond Ian Fleming retcon'd him into having Scottish ancestry to account for Connery's accent. If the bloody creator of the character is happy changing shit around the actor I don't see how whiny fans have a leg to stand on. Idris is an awesome British actor, only qualification you need to be Bond.

 

[Torrasque]

This made me think though, "are there certain roles that shouldn't be open to everyone?"

You'll get a lot of talk on this one, and the general consensus from the social justice-y folk will end up being something like "yes, roles for characters that aren't white shouldn't be open to people who are the wrong race -- only white roles should be open to everyone." That's the essence of the whole "whitewashing is evil but recasting white characters as other races is not just OK, it's extra-good, and if you disagree it's because you are a racist asshole" argument.

I've always hated that one. I think roles should be cast on the actor's merit, not on what race they are, what childhood experiences they went through, how much they earn, and other bullshitty things that don't matter when acting. I also think that applies evenly to all actors of all skin colours; if they happen to be white, good for them, if they happen to be asian, good for them. If they happen to have naturally green skin, that is awesome, but doesn't matter for the role they are playing (unless it is some green skinned bad guy or something). Race should never be an issue unless the subject matter of the movie is about race.

Eh, I have to say no on this one. I've never been a fan of race changing any character, no matter which way they're swapping. While I'm all for diversification in Hollywood, I'm not a huge fan of messing with pre-existing characters to do it; it seems kinda forced and hamfisted, even gimmicky. It's just a way to sell movies and grab media attention, half of Thor's media coverage was over Idris playing Heimdall, and the fact that he did a great job was overshadowed by the fact that he is black. Same thing goes for Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Plus this would be the second time Idris Elba would play a white-guy-gone-black, and he's such a great actor that I'd rather him not become known solely for "blackifying white guys." And we all know that would happen.

I wouldn't really compare a norse god to a comic book character. Sure they both have their place in fiction, but one has been around for hundreds of years and is a part of culture, the other is a norse god. Oh shit, I mean...

What's up with everyone saying how they would have to explain it in, and that they can't just retcon Bond? Have you seen James Bond films prior to the Craig films? In his 20+ films I can only think of one instance that a previous story was mentioned, and all that was, in one of the Dalton films, I think License to Kill, Felix mentioned he was married once. And that is it! In 20+ films the only kind of continuity was one sentence. The only things that shouldn't, in my opinion be changed are; the agent is called James Bond, assigned the number 007 who works for the British Secret Service, M runs said service, the Quartermaster is called Q, who gives him gadgets and a sweet car, there is bad guy with crazy plan, and it's action film. Other than that, have at it.

Not sure what's caused all this fuss about there only being one universe, I reckon it's either all the comics getting turned into films, or the Craig films trying to show Bond's history, but either way, fuck that.

Hit the nail on the head

Well the entire thing is based on a book series that goes back farther than the movies, and I think he was white in that, so there's a little bit of a reason not to have one (the source material argument), but not much, especially since the connection between them tends to get looser with every passing decade.

Even if the initial movie was based on the book(s), I think after 50 years, the creators of new Bond movies can take a little creative liberty with new Bond movies.

 

[SextusMaximus]

Put the src in your OP at least.

OT: Was having this discussion while pissing around in science class, would be absolutely class.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I dunno.

I look at you these days, Idris, you know what I see? I see a man without a country. Not hard enough for this role right here and maybe, just maybe, not smart enough for them roles out there.

Seriously though, haven't we had enough Bonds? A new spy franchise, please.

Random thing too, if you could cast a replacement to take over when Craig finishes, who would you cast?

Fassbender.

He's Irish though so wouldn't that be a bit weird?

Edit:Wait, Brosnan, derp.

 

[Rawne1980]

I wouldn't mind what race, colour or creed the actor playing Bond is.

As long as he's British it makes no difference to me.

 

[Athinira]

So you think changing the skin colour of James Bond is the same as changing the gender? Interesting. I'd like to hear why you think that. It seems that you think that James Bond has a very specific set of defining characteristics, and dark skin is definitely not one of them. Can you list all of the your defining characteristics of James Bond?

Principle is the same (scale is different).

And yes, i do believe that for most fans, him being white is one of his defining characteristics (disclaimer: I'm not a fan, it's just how i predict they feel, but it's really only my guess).

In addition, one of his characteristics i would personally very much define James Bond is him being a rather slender guy. Of all the James Bonds so far, Pierce Brosnan is the only one who had a slightly broad body (which was amplified by his face also being rather squarish). Idris specifically is one well-build motherf***** (big, but not huge), and i also predict this being something fans will have trouble with.

Again, i won't say much about this. I don't really care in what direction they take the franchise (as long as it continues to be great entertainment), but try convincing the studio or the fans of this, and i predict you will meet heavy resistance

 

[Griffolion]

-snip-

Yeah, each to their own, there's no right answers in these things. Don't get me wrong, Thor and Prometheus both had him in great parts, but I found Luther to be quite gripping.

I was a bit skeptical about Matt Smith, but I think he's not too far off Tennant in how well he does the Doctor.

 

[mad825]

snip

You know, this shouldn't be an race issue...Unless you're making it a race issue. There's always that guy.

 

[Patrick Buck]

...I really don't think Bond should be Black, I just don't think it's really him.
And no, that doesn't make me racist, I just don't think Bond should be Black. Also isn't he like 44? He might be getting a bit old for it, considering Criag is signed on for the next two isn't he?

 

[Panorama]

I love the films, never read the books. Count me in, i'm more then happy with him being bond. Give me more bond films!

 

[Torrasque]

snip

You know, this shouldn't be an race issue...Unless you're making it a race issue. There's always that guy.

Thats kind of the point of this thread, discussing whether this should be a race issue or not, and if there are any cases where a race issue would be present. Judging from a lot of responses, there is some kind of race issue present. I doubt the people expressing those opinions are massive racists that cringe at the thought of black people acting, so I want to get to the bottom of what the issue really is.

 

[Phasmal]

I don't see `whiteness` as a big part of the James Bond character, and they've already buggered around with his appearance plenty. So why not.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Why not? It'd be a little soon for a reboot, but I wouldn't have anything against it. We survived the whole Black Heimdall kerfuffle, I'm pretty sure the tighty-whities will survive a Black James Bond.

Not without raising a stink first, though. It's the same way a lot of Holmsians object to the admittedly awesome Benedict Cumberbatch series or the competent Johnny Lee Miller vehicle. That's still a fundamental change for the character. It's still odd to hear people complain, though, because Holmes went from being a Victorian figure to kicking Nazi ass with Basil Rathbone. Nobody complained.

Stick tattoos on Sherlock or switch to an abusive nicotine patch habit because morphine abuse isn't too PC? HERESY, I SAY! SHERLOCK HOLMES IS NOT SHERLOCK HOLMES WITHOUT HIS DEERSTALKER CAP AND MANTLED JACKET!

Honestly, people get invested in things they like far, far too much.