In 1897, actor Minnie Palmer became the first woman to drive her own car in the United Kingdom, and in 2021 Lashana Lynch will make history for the James Bond franchise as the first woman with a license to kill, something that No Time to Die's most recent featurette is proud to show.
Although throughout its near 60 years of existence the Bond series has featured many women who could hold their own when put into life-threatening circumstances, those instances were, at best, coupled with older sexist roles usually assigned to them. However, No Time to Die's Nomi has the merit of being James Bond’s first double-O colleague, meaning she can beat up as many terrorists as 007, all while -presumably- receiving equal pay as well.
As No Time to Die ramps up promotional efforts ahead of its premiere, this new featurette is designed to show the kind of work and training regime that Lynch and Ana de Armas put in to carry the notion that they are indeed capable of performing real MI6 clearance type of stunts. Also, contrary to previous films, No Time to Die's Nomi seems to rival Bond not only in physical prowess but also in snark, as Lynch describes her character as “slightly cocky” when she constantly derides the aging 007.
On the other hand, de Armas will be playing Paloma, a Cuban agent who is much more like the previous butt-kicking female cast members, though maybe one less likely to fall prey to Bond’s romantic charm given his current relationship status with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). Add in Naomie Harris’ refreshed Moneypenny and it becomes quite obvious that James Bond coworkers have evolved quite a lot with the passage of time.
Surely, the complexities of female representation within the James Bond franchise have been the subject of many college papers, and the late Diana Rigg was already outearning George Lazenby in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. However, No Time to Die's message is much different. Regardless of producer Barbara Broccoli being completely opposed to the notion of a female James Bond taking over in the future, maybe Daniel Craig will have to sit back and watch from the copilot seat a few times for this film.
No Time to Die will be James Bond’s longest ever film, clocking in at 2 hours and 43 minutes, and should tie up the many loose ends that are still left from the Craig era. As if that wasn’t enough, once Craig gets his well-deserved sendoff, the quest to find a new James Bond promises to be just as exciting.
No Time to Die is set to release on October 8, 2021.
Source: @007|Twitter