No Time to Die's Ana de Armas believes James Bond should remain male for the character's next film.
"There’s no need for a female Bond," De Armas recently told The Sun. "There shouldn’t be any need to steal someone else’s character, you know, to take over. This is a novel, and it leads into this James Bond world and this fantasy of that universe where he’s at." The actor continued that instead of turning Bond female, she would like to see the spy films give females more to do. "What I would like is that the female roles in the Bond films, even though Bond will continue to be a man, are brought to life in a different way," suggested the actor. "That they’re given a more substantial part and recognition. That’s what I think is more interesting than flipping things."
De Armas made a scene-stealing appearance as Paloma, a CIA agent assisting Daniel Craig's 007, in 2021's No Time to Die. Her character proved to be extremely popular with audiences with many fans calling on James Bond producer Eon Productions to develop a spinoff film for De Armas' Paloma. However, a Paloma spinoff seems unlikely given Eon's current commitment to casting the next James Bond and building out a new series of films that are unconnected to Craig's tenure as 007. De Armas is slated to star as the titular character in Ballerina, an upcoming John Wick spinoff that will focus on a young female assassin seeking revenge against the people who murdered her family, which should scratch that itch for any fans hoping for a Paloma spinoff.
The Next Bond Could Be Idris Elba
While Eon has yet to officially cast the next James Bond, reports from June 2022 stated that Idris Elba, who has been a popular fan-casting choice for 007, "has long been in talks to play a role in the next era of James Bond’s story and last year was being considered for a role as an antagonist. However, talks surrounding him playing the lead have started again as producers realized how popular he would be after carrying out secret market research. He ranked highly among the diverse group of movie buffs invited to participate in it. They didn’t want to see him as a nemesis, they want him as the hero."
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, No Time to Die starts with James Bond having left active service following the events of 2015's Spectre. However, his peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. In addition to De Armas and Craig, the twenty-fifth James Bond film stars Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Rami Malek and Lashana Lynch.
Source: The Sun