In both Spectre and Skyfall, James Bond finds himself face-to-face with an enemy that is fairly new to the series: modernity. The reality is that the world we live in today is much different than the world that 007 was initially introduced to, and the information age has made many elements of Cold War-era espionage obsolete. A natural result of this is that the long-running franchise will have to evolve – but what’s the best way to go about that? According to Daniel Craig, the key is in accentuating how the British super spy clashes against the system.
I had the chance to sit down with the Spectre star earlier this month when he was down in Mexico City, Mexico for a special James Bond press event, and it was during our conversation that we discussed his feelings regarding the future of Bond. Noting the recurring themes in Spectre and Skyfall, I asked about how the character needs to evolve within a changing world, and he proposed that it’s actually the natural conflict between machine and man that will continue to keep 007 relevant. He explained,
The truth of it is that it’s changing day by day – or it seems to be. My wish is that there are intelligent people in the intelligence service, we all hope that that’s the case. With the use of drones, with the use of blanket surveillance, it’s a different world – but it does seem to us to be a great place to put Bond, because he clashes against it. He’s the sort of spy who wants to look the enemy in the eye and gauge for himself who this person is, what to do about them, how to get them, how to beat them. He doesn’t think you can do that from a control room. But we have Ben [Whishaw], so we sort of fulfill both of those worlds.
You can watch Daniel Craig’s full response in the video below – as well as his response to my question about the key elements of the character that always need to be a part of the James Bond legacy, and which ones are a bit more flexible:
For those of you who have now had the chance to see Spectre, do you think that clashing against modernity is the best way to keep the James Bond franchise relevant, or do you think that there’s another direction that should be employed? Hit the comments with your thoughts!
