I’m all for a female or gay male super-spy, but I don’t understand the edgy need to swap genders, races, etc. of characters that have existed for decades. It’s so faux progressive. Create new characters. Let them come into their own and develop their own mythology. Don’t rewrite old characters.
We could end up with a James Bond who is not James Bond at all. The character created by, of his time, racist and sexist Ian Fleming could be completely different.
In which case, it wouldn’t be James Bond. Somebody would have to step up to the plate and create a new character.
My Dad grew up with Sean Connery’s Bond and hates the Roger Moore interpretation with the burning rage of a thousand suns. He loves Connery, likes Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, is meh about Timothy Dalton, and really hates Moore and Lazenby.
Disagree about Mission Impossible. I think the series is overrated. I like Craig a lot, but he’s getting old and it’s starting to show. He’s been Bond for 13 years and is about to surpass Moore’s record for the longest serving Bond. Time to pass the torch.