A black 007?

[Neil]

Elba has the swagger to do it, and the physicality to be good in a modern action film.  As much as I normally hate it when they try and shoehorn minorities into parts that were written for white folks, I think that this is a case when it would actually work rather well.  007 isn't a man so much as he is a title, and the cardinal rule is that if he's cool, it's all good.

[merithyn]

Elba has the swagger to do it, and the physicality to be good in a modern action film.  As much as I normally hate it when they try and shoehorn minorities into parts that were written for white folks, I think that this is a case when it would actually work rather well.  007 isn't a man so much as he is a title, and the cardinal rule is that if he's cool, it's all good.

Yeah. Elba is definitely someone who can pull of being James Bond. I admit, though, that I had a problem with Daniel Craig playing Bond because he was a blond. It just seemed wrong. I've gotten used to it, though, and now think that he's a great James Bond. I don't doubt that I'd be the same with Idris Elba, especially if we get regular shirtless shots.

[Ideologue]

How so, M?

Well, I think Idris Elba could totally pull it off. He has that suave, sexy attitude that makes Bond Bond. But James has always been white. So, it would take a big leap for me to accept someone who is not white for the role. Doesn't mean that I can't/won't make it, but it will still be a bit of a jolt on some level.

See, I'm not usually for race-blind casting, because a character's race usually informs their character to such a degree that by changing their race you are radically changing their character (you cannot, for example, just cast a black dude as Superman and say, "Diversity!", for example, although as times move forward, it's becoming less of an issue; and Nick Fury as a black guy is really problematic if you retain Nick Fury's original backstory, almost as problematic as making Captain America black; casting black Norse gods is actually, maybe ironically, far less quarrelsome because that modern kind of racism didn't exist on the Gothic steppe where those guys originated).

But James Bond?  Fuck it.  I've been waiting for years for the Bond movie where they finally pull the trigger on the concept and the Bond played by the marquee actor actually dies at the end of the first act, to be replaced by the new model 007.  James Bond is a caricature, or more charitably multiple characters filling one role, not an integral character to himself.

Also: I'd vote for Chiwetel Ejiofor.  I hear Idris Elba's name a lot, but I've never seen him in anything but Prometheus and that movie suuuuucked, and he really was not that great in it.  OH HE CAN DO A SOUTHERN ACCENT WHAT A MAMMOTH TALENT YOU HAVE.  But I guess he'd be fine, sure.

[The Brain]

I hear Idris Elba's name a lot, but I've never seen him in anything but Prometheus

WTF

[Eddie Teach]

He was in the Ghost Rider sequel, not that that's something worth bragging about. And he was a badass in that Britcop show.

[garbon]

How so, M?

Well, I think Idris Elba could totally pull it off. He has that suave, sexy attitude that makes Bond Bond. But James has always been white. So, it would take a big leap for me to accept someone who is not white for the role. Doesn't mean that I can't/won't make it, but it will still be a bit of a jolt on some level.

What? I'd have just as hard (if not harder) of a time if they made Bond a woman.

Has 4 years been enough time to get you to be okay with having a black president? After all, that's a position that has an even longer history of only being white.

[Eddie Teach]

 

James Bond's a character, not an institution.

[Viking]

I think speculation on a black bond is all that there will be. You can't fuck too much with the franchise. If you make bond black you will have to explain why he is black... and like the joker says, a joke isn't funny if you need to explain it.

[The Brain]

If you make bond black you will have to explain why he is black...

[Viking]

If you make bond black you will have to explain why he is black...

While if you make Bond Irish or Scottish, or Australian then you don't need to explain. If having a black bond is ok, why isn't anybody thinking about a chinese bond?

[garbon]

If you make bond black you will have to explain why he is black...

While if you make Bond Irish or Scottish, or Australian then you don't need to explain. If having a black bond is ok, why isn't anybody thinking about a chinese bond?

I don't know. I guess because we have people like Meri who would be put out because he isn't white.

[garbon]

James Bond's a character, not an institution.

I don't see the importance of that difference. Bond has been played by all different sorts of men, just like the role of President of the US.

[The Brain]

If you make bond black you will have to explain why he is black...

While if you make Bond Irish or Scottish, or Australian then you don't need to explain. If having a black bond is ok, why isn't anybody thinking about a chinese bond?

I don't follow.

[Viking]

If you make bond black you will have to explain why he is black...

While if you make Bond Irish or Scottish, or Australian then you don't need to explain. If having a black bond is ok, why isn't anybody thinking about a chinese bond?

I don't follow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz0rGmc5u_c

[Eddie Teach]

I don't see the importance of that difference. Bond has been played by all different sorts of men, just like the role of President of the US.

No, he's been played by tall athletic white men with British-sounding accents. The audience accepts all of them as being the same guy. Nobody thinks of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan as being the same guy. Or Dennis Haysbert and Morgan Freeman, for that matter.