104. The Future Of James Bond: Rege-Jean Page, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Beyond

I'm joined this week by Frazer Rice, a James Bond freak whose familiarity with the films, the books, the comic strips, and the business of Bond makes him the idea guest to chat and speculate with on The Future Of Bond.

With 'No Time To Die' closing out the Daniel Craig era, Bond now enters what likely is a 2-4 year window between films and a search for the Next Bond. The search this time is perhaps culturally poised to branch Bond out, or, at least, the times we live in would seem ripe for a reimagining of the Bond character, perhaps away from the white male origins of the character. But post-taping, Bond gatekeeper and producer Barbara Broccoli gave an interview in which she said it was her belief that Bond should be British and male, so...perhaps we'll get a different Bond, but not, alas, a female Bond (my personal #1 choice to replace Craig is a British woman, you'll hear who that is in the episode).

Frazer and I cover the recent sale of Bond studio MGM to Amazon and what that means for the future of the franchise, we traipse through the historical record of Bond changes from the Connery-to-Lazenby era to the Connery-to-Roger Moore era, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.

We talk some surprising actors who were offered the role over the years, but who turned it down.

We rank All Time Bonds, with a surprising list for both of us, and we offer up our top choices for the Next Bond, all while enjoying some great Bond clips and music.

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Frazer's Graphic Novel

A Reasonably OK Book About Bond History

My Favorite Bond & Bond Film