James Bond’s Naomie Harris Cautions Against The Franchise Being ‘Too Modern’, Offers A+ Choice For The New 007

Every James Bond movie has promised us that “James Bond will return.” With the recent news that Amazon MGM has taken over creative control of the character, it seems clear that, while the next Bond movie is still a long way off, those words will come true. But exactly what James Bond will look like when he returns is a huge question.

There have been a lot of opinions on how James Bond may need to change with a new generation, but Naomie Harris, who played Moneypenny during the Daniel Craig years hopes that whoever gets cast, they don’t modernize the franchise too much.

Naomie Harris Doen’t want A “Modern” Bond

Naomie Harris appeared as the classic Bond character Moneypenny in three of Daniel Craig’s Bond movies. She spoke with Harpers Bazaar shortly after it was announced that Amazon MGM was taking over the franchise and Harris had one specific hope for the Bond, that the character retain the “classic elements” that fans know and love. She said:

While all the James Bond films are more or less set in the “present day” of whenever the movie was filmed, in most ways the movies remained the same despite who was playing the lead role. There was arguably some “modernization” when Daniel Craig took over as Bond, there were definitely some differences in the way the character was portrayed.

With Bond clearly set to get some sort of “relaunch” with the next film, and reports that Amazon wants to create some sort of “cinematic universe with streaming series and spinoff movies, it wouldn’t be a shock if there were plans to drastically overhaul Bond on screen.

However, as Harris says, Bond has endured for this long in large part because of those classic elements that fans love, so one hopes things won’t change that much.

Who Naomie Harris Would Love To See As James Bond

Of course, a lot will likely come down to who gets cast as the next James Bond. For her part, Naomie Harris has an idea, as one of her co-stars in her newest film, Black Bag, she thinks would be a solid choice. As she put it:

Regé-Jean Page has been connected with Bond rumors since Daniel Craig stepped down. There’s no argument that he looks good in a suit and would likely pull off those “classic elements’ quite well.

While all indications are that James Bond will remain male, the possibility of an ethnically diverse new Bond isn’t entirely off the table, so Page playing Bond is at least theoretically possible.