Changing the gender of popular characters has become a bigger topic lately, as Thor became a female in the comics and Doctor Who signed on its first female Time Lord. One other franchise that often ignites conversations about potentially changing the gender of the character is the James Bond franchise. Rachel Weisz, who is married to current Bond actor Daniel Craig, recently expressed her feelings on the matter, and it doesn't look as if she's Team Female Bond. She said:
[Ian Fleming] devoted an awful lot of time to writing this particular character, who is particularly male and relates in a particular way to women. Why not create your own story rather than jumping on to the shoulders and being compared to all those other male predecessors? Women are really fascinating and interesting and should get their own stories.
Rachel Weisz isn't the first celebrity to express the idea that Bond is a dude, and should remain a dude, especially because being a womanizer is one of the character's defining characteristics. Roger Moore had stated that James Bond will always be James Bond, and that a "Jane Bond" would be a very different character. Pierce Brosnan has also said that while Bond could totally change races, he doesn't believe the character will ever change from its male incarnation. While there would theoretically be ways to write around that, not everyone would prefer the character to change genders.
Other people have felt the character could be a female, including Priyanka Chopra, who does heavy action sequences in Quantico. Kristen Stewart has even suggested a bait-and-switch, where the audience thinks the girl in the trailer is actually a Bond girl and only finds out later she's the real deal. So not everyone believes James Bond needs to be a dude forever.
As far as Weisz's comments to The Telegraph go, the actress mentions that women really deserve their own stories. In fact, female-led spy stories are on a bit of a roll right now. This past year, Charlize Theron starred in the well-liked Atomic Blonde flick, which had some notably badass action scenes. Jennifer Lawrence is starring in her own spy thriller Red Sparrow in 2018, and we've already gotten some pretty cool footage from that flick. Finally, Blake Lively has her own spy movie The Rhythm Section heading to theaters in 2019, although production on that movie was recently suspended due to Lively sustaining an injury. The point being, there are plenty of non-Bond spy properties for the ladies coming together, and some might even yield sequels.
We'll keep you updated. For now, another James Bond film starring Daniel Craig is coming together. The flick will hit theaters on November 8, 2019.
