[griojw id=”gOCNwoVm” playerid=””]
When the much-anticipated new James Bond film hits theaters next year, the face of a Black woman will have the 007 designation from Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
In a twist to the famed series, UK actress Lashana Lynch, 31, will play the spy’s role at the opening of the film, while Bond himself, Daniel Craig, will be in retirement and must be called out of it for a new espionage adventure. Plot details on the yet untitled “Bond 25” are being kept as secret, well, as stolen microfilm.
Confused? We’ll explain.
Although some reports say Lynch will be the new Bond, that’s not exactly true. In author Ian Fleming’s original Bond books, beginning with 1953’s Casino Royale, the “00…” designation is given to British Secret Service operatives who have earned a “license to kill.” So Lynch’s character begins the film in the 007 role.
READ MORE: Idris Elba thinks the next James Bond could be a Black woman
“There is a pivotal scene at the start of the film where M says ‘Come in 007’, and in walks Lashana who is Black, beautiful and a woman,” a source told The Daily Mail. “It’s a popcorn-dropping moment. Bond is still Bond, but he’s been replaced as 007 by this stunning woman.”
“This is a Bond for the modern era who will appeal to a younger generation while sticking true to what we all expect in a Bond film,” the source adds. “There are spectacular chase sequences and fights, and Bond is still Bond but he’s having to learn to deal with the world of #MeToo.”
It is also not the first time a Black woman has been an MI6 spy in a Bond movie. In the films Skyfall and SPECTRE Naomie Harris played the role of Eve Moneypenny, the clandestine secretary to Bond’s boss, “M.” She is expected to reprise the role in the next installment.
If Lynch looks familiar, you might remember her from her scene-stealing moments in Marvel’s recent Captain Marvel movie.
The new movie was written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who talked with Deadline back in May about the movie’s current significance.
“There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not [the Bond franchise] is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women,” she told the website. “I think that’s bollocks. I think he’s absolutely relevant now. It has just got to grow. It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesn’t have to. He needs to be true to this character.”
READ MORE: Idris Elba doesn’t want the the burden of a failed Bond movie on his shoulders