Where Should the ‘James Bond’ Franchise Go After ‘No Time to Die’?

Where Should the ‘James Bond’ Franchise Go After ‘No Time to Die’?

So, after so many months (and even years) of waiting, No Time to Die has finally hit theaters, bringing an end to Daniel Craig’s tenure as iconic spy, James Bond. Be warned, MAJOR SPOILERS to follow. Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as 007 has been met with critical acclaim and box office success, bringing the character’s journey to a finite conclusion that nobody was expecting. That’s right, James Bond is dead. No Time to Die’s finale sees the intrepid secret agent both shaken and stirred as he is blown to smithereens by a barrage of missiles that will have left the formerly unstoppable spy well and truly stopped for good.

This is a shocking first for the long-running franchise, as James Bond has never been killed off before, and no doubt there will be many a tear shed during the closing credits of No Time to Die once the reality of the explosive event hits home. For this is no fake-out. There is no wink at the camera or hint that Bond may have gotten away against all odds. 007 is definitely, absolutely certainly deceased. But, after the initial grieving has passed, many fans will surely be asking what’s next for the beloved franchise. Well, here are a few suggestions…

RELATED: 5 Best Moments in No Time to Die, Ranked

The Further Adventures of 007

No Time to Die opens with Bond having left the life of a secret agent behind, leaving MI6 and thus parting ways with his iconic 00 number. While the master spy assumes that the agency will retire the number along with the man, this is far from the case, and in steps a brand new 007 in the form of Lashana Lynch’s Nomi, who, along with Bond, has her very own chip sat atop her shoulder where the coveted number is concerned.

While this warring pair of 007s spend most of the movie at each other’s throats, a mutual respect does eventually emerge, with Bond and Nomi teaming up to take the fight to the real villains. During No Time to Die, Lynch is given just enough of an opportunity to demonstrate her affinity for shooting both guns and one-liners, and while her role in proceedings is rather small in the grand scheme, she certainly has the mystique and the skills to lead her own set of adventures in a 007 spinoff.

Indeed, Nomi’s inclusion in No Time to Die could quite easily have resulted in an obvious attempt to introduce a new franchise lead, but instead she is a welcome background addition to Craig’s final outing, and no doubt the studio will be keeping their judging eye on audience reactions to the new 007 to decide whether she could carry her own franchise. She certainly has the potential to.

A New Era for James Bond

Until the Daniel Craig saga, the James Bond movies have never been such clear-cut continuations. Each instalment from Casino Royale to No Time to Die has followed the story beats and character motivations of its predecessor, leaving the franchise in a somewhat difficult spot. The studio now needs to work out a way to differentiate new James Bond adventures from the Daniel Craig era, and perhaps the best way to do this is to jump into a new era altogether and take 007 back in time.

Now, please don’t misunderstand, this does not mean that Bond should jump in a DeLorean and gun-it to 88. Instead, the next James Bond movies could simply be set in a different time period, maybe even taking the spy back to the 1950s era of Ian Fleming’s novels. Not only would this allow the new slate of Bond movies to explore the politics and technology of the time, it would also completely separate these new James Bond movies from Craig’s Bond movies, which are set very much in the contemporary landscape of modern day.

Taking things back in time would allow the franchise to start with a distinct clean slate, and thus giving the new James Bond the chance to distinguish himself from the Daniel Craig saga entirely. Ultimately, taking Bond back into the distant past would open up a whole host of possibilities for both the character and the stories told thereafter, and the studio would be foolish to not consider it.

Why Not Both?

Next year we are getting three different versions of Batman in the form of Robert Pattinson, Ben Affleck, and Michael Keaton. Don’t worry we’re still talking about Bond. This plethora of Batmen tells us that the days of worrying about audiences becoming confused over potentially convoluted franchises are over, and with this in mind, why not allow Lashana Lynch to continue the world of Daniel Craig’s Bond and begin a new series of movies featuring James Bond in the past. Both completely separate from each other.

This would not only give the studio multiple franchises with which to watch those dollar signs spin, it would also give James Bond fans, both the more traditional and the more contemporary, something to enjoy on the big screen. Of course, as is always the case with such tentpole franchises, there is the risk of oversaturation, but the adventures of the new 007 and the past adventures of James Bond should be more than disparate and distinct enough that this wouldn’t happen.

Doing both would give the studio the opportunity to continue the story of James Bond whilst simultaneously making good use of the ground work left by the hugely popular Daniel Craig era.

James Bond Begin Again

Of course, perhaps the most likely outcome for the James Bond franchise now that Daniel Craig has left the 007 legacy behind is a complete and total reboot. Reboots have been hot property for some years now, with Craig’s first outing in Casino Royale acting as such for the Bond franchise back in 2006, and there’s no reason to think that this wouldn’t work again.

Therefore, it seems highly likely that the studio will decide to simply start things over again in much the same way, only this time with a new actor and a new aesthetic. Many famous names often come up when discussing who should be next to don the famous tux, with the likes of Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, and Henry Cavill usually topping the list as people’s favourites. Though based on age and profile it’s much more plausible that someone like Outlander’s Sam Heughan or Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page will be chosen.

In much the same way as Casino Royale did for Daniel Craig, a reboot would allow audiences to see Bond rise up from his troubled beginnings, earning his double-0 status and slowly becoming the formidable spy that audiences know and love. Within this idea though, there are other possibilities. Where Craig’s tale began at his first two official kills, the reboot could go back even further, allowing us to see a side of Bond’s life that has been largely unexplored on the big screen.

Whatever happens, as ever, James Bond will return. So how would you like to see the famous franchise continue?

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