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On the Idea of Idris Elba being James Bond
- Thread starter NotTheGuyYouKill
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soundscream
Member
Dalton is the secret best Bond after Connery.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Roger Moore is the nicest human being ever, but he forgot Lazenby
I'd say he gave him about as much attention as he deserves.
LTK is merely ok, but TLD is so damn good. Can't put my finger on it but it's possibly my fave of the series. Fuck that Thunderball court drama for depriving us of Dalton #3 and 4.
Darkangel
Member
I for one actually did rage when they made him blond.
that's harsh, man, harsh! OHMSS is great, imho
Warm Machine
Member
I've heard Lazenby both made a giant fortune investing his money and that he has had sex with most of the Bond girls due to him appearing in the most public bond conventions along with the girls.
Idris would make a really fantastic Bond I think. Just seems like time will be the issue. I'm guessing by the time they are ready to make a movie with him he would be mid to late 40s and they probably want at least 3 movies from an actor.
Looking at Craig he was 38 when Casino Royalr was released. Brosnan was 42 when Goldeneye came out. I guess if Craig is contracted for one more movie then Idris would be like 50 or so by the time the first movie came out.
Looking at Craig he was 38 when Casino Royalr was released. Brosnan was 42 when Goldeneye came out. I guess if Craig is contracted for one more movie then Idris would be like 50 or so by the time the first movie came out.
brianmcdoogle
Member
And Craig was "the ugly Bond", and "the blonde Bond", and he was "the wimpy Bond" because he rode the speedboat wearing a life jacket when he premiered as Bond.
People will complain but then get over it. And, sadly, age will probably kill his chance as Bond, since he will be too old by then.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
yeah they do. Branding is probably more important now than it's ever been so far as the film industry goes.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
The worst bond in one of the better bond movies. He's sliding in and out of his accent, his performance is unremarkable at best (not surprising given that he wasn't really an actor) and he spends a quarter of the movie getting dubbed by another actor. Bond is often the least interesting thing in a bond movie, and they live or die on the strength of the supporting cast, particularly villains. I think it worked quite well overall, plot silliness aside, but he was NOT the reason.
Awful accent (and dubbing) aside, I actually think Lazenby does very well in the movie and gives Bond just enough complexity to be credible as someone who might fall in love and marry. Perfect though Connery was for his (first couple of) movies, he was a type more than a character, an unchanging monolith who wouldn't have suited OHMSS at all.
IISANDERII
Member
Is his age the issue or the appearance of his age the issue?
Right now at 42 I think he looks fine.
I don't care how old he IS, all that matters is hold old he appears. If he's looking slow/weak in fights then no.
soundscream
Member
License to Kill is almost not a Bond movie. I watched it recently and I had completely forgotten how violent and humorless it was.
TheXfactor
Member
a lot of people did
jetpacks was yes
Member
His personality is actually much closer to the source material than most of the Bonds that came before.
brianmcdoogle
Member
But they gave her a nice HOOOONNNEEEYYYMMMMMOOOOOOOONNNN!!!
Bobby Roberts
Banned
So good.gif
while I'm not particularly fond of him myself, I just found it weird Roger forgot about him since he's definitely the Bond actor with the most unique nationality. OHMSS is great, tho, and I agree Lazenby was not the reason...he just could not compete
hodayathink
Member
Because an general Idris Elba secret agent movie wouldn't get anywhere near the budget/press/publicity of an Idris Elba James Bond movie.
gutter_trash
Banned
reynal1287
Member
He'd be perfect for it.
Bucket Mouse
Member
Elba isn't that great an actor, really. Charismatic guy, though, and I would have no problem seeing him as Bond.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
You almost gave me a heart attack, was about to get hype.
NotTheGuyYouKill
Member
MHWilliams
Member
I like Idris, but he's too close to Craig's age for him to follow after Craig. I mean, he's got at least one more film after Spectre.
Definitely, the transition from Craig is also going to be a difficult one and he could comfortably follow him no problem.
The window is closing though, interesting dilemma they have.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
And at the risk of being considered a cretin - again, the fact the Broccolis are openly discussing how much they love him for the role, means I think it's possible they're putting codename theory in play. Considering how tightly they've wound the continuity, and how strongly they've tied the stories of the movies into Bond's personal history - it makes it a lot harder to just cast a different actor and say it's the same guy. Unless you're willing to turn James Bond a pseudonym, effectively making the character a legacy superhero.
You guys thought a Black Bond would freak people out - watch old-school hardcores lose their fucking shit at having to wrap their head around that becoming a reality.
So far as Elba's age goes - not that quoting Aaliyah really fits here, but Idris in his mid 40s doesn't look like Daniel Craig in his mid 40s, and if the Broccolis are entertaining the option of letting Craig walk early, I think Elba could hold the role for about 10 years and not succumb to the visible aging.
You guys thought a Black Bond would freak people out - watch old-school hardcores lose their fucking shit at having to wrap their head around that becoming a reality.
So far as Elba's age goes - not that quoting Aaliyah really fits here, but Idris in his mid 40s doesn't look like Daniel Craig in his mid 40s, and if the Broccolis are entertaining the option of letting Craig walk early, I think Elba could hold the role for about 10 years and not succumb to the visible aging.
not meant to be a personal attack, but whenever I read about the theory of Bond being a codename it just sounds silly to me
AstroZombie
Banned
Fassbender would be the best choice for a variety of reasons.
smokeymicpot
Beat EviLore at pool.
I don'f either. Don'f understand why gaf wants him or Chriss Pratt and Fassbender in everything.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
It absolutely was silly - in the previous continuity. They've kept that possibility alive in this one, though. They could have closed the door on it (Skyfall especially) but they've kept it open so far.
If it doesn't happen in the transition from Craig to whoever, though, it's not gonna happen.
I mean, I guess they could just reboot again, but I don't know if that's really an option.
(not taking it as a personal attack at all - I'm not making the movies or anything
AuthenticM
Member
It needs to happen. He's perfect for the role. He doesn't look that old, and besides, I wouldn't mind an older James Bond.
The man is suave as fuck.
The man is suave as fuck.
gutter_trash
Banned
LOL a German Bond
It absolutely was silly - in the previous continuity. They've kept that possibility alive in this one, though. They could have closed the door on it (Skyfall especially) but they've kept it open so far.
If it doesn't happen in the transition from Craig to whoever, though, it's not gonna happen.
I mean, I guess they could just reboot again, but I don't know if that's really an option.
(not taking it as a personal attack at all - I'm not making the movies or anything
surely they'd be prone to do another reboot after Craig, I would think. His movies seem to be constructed in a way to tell the story of this particular Bond until its inevitable conclusion. Granted, if that doesn't happen and they indeed connect the Craig movies to Bond's next incarnation the codename thing has a reason to exist. Damn, I almost want it to happen but with Elba, otherwise as you said the meltdowns wouldn't be as delicious, lol
megamerican
Member
As much as I'd love to see this I think this is more or less just lip service. If they go with Craig for the next one which is the likely option, that puts Elba at 45 + and that's if they start shooting immediately after they're done with Craig. Realistically Elba would be close to 50 before his first Bond was released.
It absolutely was silly - in the previous continuity. They've kept that possibility alive in this one, though. They could have closed the door on it (Skyfall especially) but they've kept it open so far.
If it doesn't happen in the transition from Craig to whoever, though, it's not gonna happen.
I mean, I guess they could just reboot again, but I don't know if that's really an option.
(not taking it as a personal attack at all - I'm not making the movies or anything
Skyfall showed the graves of Bond's parents and the SPECTRE trailer shows Charmaine Bond listed as his legal guardian in childhood, meaning the Bond name is not a codename. Since there's only been one Bond in this continuity, they could feasibly kill Craig off and explicitly have the next actor come in as a different character who is the first to take Bond as a codename, even if it wouldn't make sense for a number of reasons, first among them being that subtlety has never been Bond's modus operandi (to put it mildly). That'd be silly, but at least preserve continuity to a certain degree. If they just have a black actor take over in the same continuity and act as though nothing's happened, that's a lot more problematic, not least since people would start acting as though it proves codename theory for the entire series (which is something they already do, despite it making approximately zero sense).
IdreamofHIME
Member
He really needs to be English English, you know what I mean?
Like Connery, Dalton, Lazenby or Brosnan....you know, not English.
Like Connery, Dalton, Lazenby or Brosnan....you know, not English.
I wonder when the love for Idris Elba will stop here. He's been in some good roles, but some people take it too far. Someone like David Oyelowo would probably do a million times better of a job than Idris.
Maybe it is time for a non-white Bond, maybe it's not. Always interesting how people jump to making Bond black. Why not an Indian/Pakistani Bond? What about an Asian Bond? Is someone like Naveen Andrews really not as capable to be Bond? The South Asian population double that of the Black population in the UK etc. and yet they're probably represented at a fraction compared to others in media, entertainment.
If the actor needs to be British, so that they don't use a Bollywood or Hong Kong actor, what about guys like Riz Ahmed who was in Nightcrawler and is British/Pakistani. You can easily do some story regarding ISIS, radicalization, utilize Middle Eastern cities etc.
Or Rhydian Vaughan, who is Taiwanese-British, have another Tomorrow Never Dies storyline, take it from there etc.
Maybe it is time for a non-white Bond, maybe it's not. Always interesting how people jump to making Bond black. Why not an Indian/Pakistani Bond? What about an Asian Bond? Is someone like Naveen Andrews really not as capable to be Bond? The South Asian population double that of the Black population in the UK etc. and yet they're probably represented at a fraction compared to others in media, entertainment.
If the actor needs to be British, so that they don't use a Bollywood or Hong Kong actor, what about guys like Riz Ahmed who was in Nightcrawler and is British/Pakistani. You can easily do some story regarding ISIS, radicalization, utilize Middle Eastern cities etc.
Or Rhydian Vaughan, who is Taiwanese-British, have another Tomorrow Never Dies storyline, take it from there etc.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
It's an interesting situation here, definitely. There's never been a version of Bond that's had such a rock-solid overarching continuity. A lot of the fluidity of the previous Bond was due to the fact each movie was essentially a stand-alone. Skyfall almost was, but it tied back to Bond's past very strongly - and now Spectre is apparently going to tie in both Skyfall AND Casino Royale really tightly as well. So once this story is done and Craig is out, either you reboot AGAIN, which sets its own sort of interesting new precedent; or you implement codename theory finally, which makes Bond a little more like that other British superhero, Doctor Who; or you go back to the old Bond-style, which doesn't necessarily work with a continuity this prominent in the storytelling.
It's gonna be an interesting 3 or 4 years, really.
Which is what I'm talking about. While Skyfall was simultaneously showing Bond's personal history right up front, laying it out there and eliminating the possibility his name wasn't James Bond, they were just as explicitly holding up Silva as an example of a 00 who operated under a pseudonym the entire time, to the point where Bond had to press M as to the nature of Silva's actual name. Silly as it may be (and I'm not even in disagreement on that note) - the part about it preserving continuity is what I think makes it a real possibility, and also relevant. The continuity is obviously way more important to EON now than it's ever been. That's partially why I think codename theory is in play - it allows them to stick to that continuity while giving them the freedom to cast new actors who can bring their own takes to "James Bond" - which as has been pointed out already, is just as much brand name as it is character name by this point.
gutter_trash
Banned
Bobby Roberts
Banned
Cumberbatch is on Marvel lock. No way he's up for Bond.
Again.
Is the age the issue or the appearance of his age.
If he LOOKS fit enough to be an international spy travelling the globe fucking peoples shit up, why does the year he was born matter? If he can do the fight scenes and the chase scenes and everything else and not look like a tired old man, then it's irrelevant.
Idris Elba looks better at 42 than Craig did at 37 for Casino Royale.
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