Should we get a new M / Q / Moneypenny for BOND 26 and beyond ?

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  • edited May 2022 Posts: 2,748
    Ludovico wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    LucknFate wrote: »
    They should honestly combine the Q and Moneypenny characters, male or female. Shocked it hasn't been done sooner. They did it a bit ironically enough in Skyfall, when Moneypenny shows up in Macao to work with Bond on his mission. I don't want that... but a blended character with some field time equipping Bond would be fine.

    I think I'd keep the Q. name, and cast a woman if Whishaw won't come back.

    Maybe just have Loelia Ponsonby fill that sort of role? It would be a reinterpretation of the character to an extent, but I guess if she was reimagined as more of an 'assistant to the 00 section' rather than a secretary it would be plausible.

    I'd rather have Loelia Ponsonby as a semi-regular character. Have her in two or three films and make the one that got away. Could be an interesting contrast with the Bond girls.

    I'd like to have her as a recurring character too. Again though, it'd be plausible having her as more of an assistant who provides the 00s with equipment as well as admin assistance etc. (sort of a "here is your plane ticket to ___, James, and here's your new watch from Q Branch...") I mean, there's no reason the Bond films have to have a Q (there isn't explicitly such a character in the novels) and I feel any future MI6 characters need to have a bit more function in the story... even in the Craig era there were times where Tanner and even Moneypenny felt a bit unnecessary.

    As for any sort of chemistry between Bond and such a character, it could work but it has to be handled right. The dynamic between Ponsonby and Bond in the novels was flirtatious on Bond's part (but more in a cheeky school-boyish type way, highly unlikely to be pursued) but she was rather maternal if anything towards the 00s and very straight-laced as a secretary. It's Moneypenny who always responded to Bond's quips and seemed less outwardly professional her role.
  • Posts: 14,799
    007HallY wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    LucknFate wrote: »
    They should honestly combine the Q and Moneypenny characters, male or female. Shocked it hasn't been done sooner. They did it a bit ironically enough in Skyfall, when Moneypenny shows up in Macao to work with Bond on his mission. I don't want that... but a blended character with some field time equipping Bond would be fine.

    I think I'd keep the Q. name, and cast a woman if Whishaw won't come back.

    Maybe just have Loelia Ponsonby fill that sort of role? It would be a reinterpretation of the character to an extent, but I guess if she was reimagined as more of an 'assistant to the 00 section' rather than a secretary it would be plausible.

    I'd rather have Loelia Ponsonby as a semi-regular character. Have her in two or three films and make the one that got away. Could be an interesting contrast with the Bond girls.

    I'd like to have her as a recurring character too. Again though, it'd be plausible having her as more of an assistant who provides the 00s with equipment as well as admin assistance etc. (sort of a "here is your plane ticket to ___, James, and here's your new watch from Q Branch...") I mean, there's no reason the Bond films have to have a Q (there isn't explicitly such a character in the novels) and I feel any future MI6 characters need to have a bit more function in the story... even in the Craig era there were times where Tanner and even Moneypenny felt a bit unnecessary.

    As for any sort of chemistry between Bond and such a character, it could work but it has to be handled right. The dynamic between Ponsonby and Bond in the novels was flirtatious on Bond's part (but more in a cheeky school-boyish type way, highly unlikely to be pursued) but she was rather maternal if anything towards the 00s and very straight-laced as a secretary. It's Moneypenny who always responded to Bond's quips and seemed less outwardly professional her role.

    Ponsonby is a though one to adapt, come to think of it: you can't make her too similar to Moneypenny.
  • edited May 2022 Posts: 2,748
    Ludovico wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    LucknFate wrote: »
    They should honestly combine the Q and Moneypenny characters, male or female. Shocked it hasn't been done sooner. They did it a bit ironically enough in Skyfall, when Moneypenny shows up in Macao to work with Bond on his mission. I don't want that... but a blended character with some field time equipping Bond would be fine.

    I think I'd keep the Q. name, and cast a woman if Whishaw won't come back.

    Maybe just have Loelia Ponsonby fill that sort of role? It would be a reinterpretation of the character to an extent, but I guess if she was reimagined as more of an 'assistant to the 00 section' rather than a secretary it would be plausible.

    I'd rather have Loelia Ponsonby as a semi-regular character. Have her in two or three films and make the one that got away. Could be an interesting contrast with the Bond girls.

    I'd like to have her as a recurring character too. Again though, it'd be plausible having her as more of an assistant who provides the 00s with equipment as well as admin assistance etc. (sort of a "here is your plane ticket to ___, James, and here's your new watch from Q Branch...") I mean, there's no reason the Bond films have to have a Q (there isn't explicitly such a character in the novels) and I feel any future MI6 characters need to have a bit more function in the story... even in the Craig era there were times where Tanner and even Moneypenny felt a bit unnecessary.

    As for any sort of chemistry between Bond and such a character, it could work but it has to be handled right. The dynamic between Ponsonby and Bond in the novels was flirtatious on Bond's part (but more in a cheeky school-boyish type way, highly unlikely to be pursued) but she was rather maternal if anything towards the 00s and very straight-laced as a secretary. It's Moneypenny who always responded to Bond's quips and seemed less outwardly professional her role.

    Ponsonby is a though one to adapt, come to think of it: you can't make her too similar to Moneypenny.

    True. Over time Moneypenny has morphed away from Fleming's young, gossipy and vixen-like side character. There's a sense that even when Lois Maxwell played the character Moneypenny was written as being more professional, savy about office dynamics, and was less flirtatious with Bond during the Moore era. Certainly by the time Samantha Bond took over there was a sense that Moneypenny had more of an 'eye roll' attitude towards Bond's flirtations, albeit with the chemistry still there. The Craig era employed a much more platonic relationship between Bond/Moneypenny after SF, and perhaps bears more similarities to a Bond/Ponsonby dynamic. Still though, I always got the sense that Ponsonby truly cared about Bond and the other 00s in the novels. Not in a romantic way, but because she liked them and ultimately knew they might not return from their missions. Perhaps having a character who truly cares/understands Bond as a person and even worries about his wellbeing would set her apart from even the Craig era Moneypenny.
  • Idris Elba as M
  • Agent_Zero_OneAgent_Zero_One Ireland
    Posts: 554
    Idris Elba as M
    Depends on the age of Bond no. 7. If they're on the younger side I'd be game.
  • Posts: 1,478
    Start fresh with everyone.
  • Posts: 1,545
    Idris Elba as M

    The problem with Idris Elbas as M is that he'd be cooler and more capable than many a Bond actor that it would be too distracting for the audience. This happened to some degree with Hugh Grant as the boss in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
  • DoctorKaufmannDoctorKaufmann Can shoot you from Stuttgart and still make it look like suicide.
    edited June 2022 Posts: 1,261
    For Q we might turn to Jordan Pickford:

    MV5BMTI4MTE2NzE4M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMjY0MjU3._V1_UY317_CR131,0,214,317_AL_.jpg


    "listun jimmy me kidda, ay tell yous ter br'n this equipment o' yosh back in one piece, otherwise ay wul make yous pick up yer parts like a puzzle? got de meesage, yous wee kidda?"
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    I have two potential MI6 teams, that I would like to see...

    Emily Watson (M), Jenna Coleman (Moneypenny) and Bill Nighy (Q)

    or

    Stephen Graham (M), Daisy Ridley (Moneypenny) and Chris Barrie (Q)
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    Stephen Graham is a good shout for various roles in a Bond film. Don't know about M. I don't think I've ever really seen him play an upper class character and I would have to search my feelings about a more rough-and-tumble M, if that where how he played it. He could vaguely pass as a young Bernard Lee, couldn't he?
  • edited June 2022 Posts: 784
    For a younger Bond, Stephen Graham is an interesting choice for M. Would otherwise make a good Felix I think.
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,482
    Emma Mackey as Moneypenny
    Riz Ahmed as Q
    Colin Salmon as M

    I think they'd have to cast a Tanner or Villiers around a similar age to the new Bond, perhaps a little older than the new man
  • Posts: 2,748
    Since62 wrote: »
    Idris Elba as M

    The problem with Idris Elbas as M is that he'd be cooler and more capable than many a Bond actor that it would be too distracting for the audience. This happened to some degree with Hugh Grant as the boss in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

    I think it would ultimately depend on how his M and the new Bond are depicted. I get the sense Elba would play Bond very differently to a hypothetical M. But yes, he does have a very commanding screen presence - more overtly so than someone like Fiennes, for instance, although arguably that's another actor who could have played Bond in his youth and that turned out fine. Ideally his M would have just enough of a role in the plot while remaining 'in the shadows' of MI6 as it were - not globe trotting or accompanying Bond to places like Dench's M in the Craig era.

    Anyway, Elba as M been suggested so many times that I can weirdly see it happening. I think there's a desire for a different kind of M who A) not only commands Bond's respect, but also has a more respectful relationship with him and B) isn't quite as morally ambiguous as we've seen in the recent past (although I think NTTD took this aspect of the character to the extreme).
  • Posts: 299
    I'm still counting on continuity so... M (Ralph Fiennes - he's great as M), Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), Q (Ben Whishaw) and Tanner (Rory Kinnear).
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    Posts: 3,382
    There's a possibility of Rory Kinnear reprising his role as Tanner, maybe Ralph Fiennes too, if he's not busy enough.

    But I'm not sure about Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw, I don't know but it's just my feeling everytime I look at them, there's a possibility that they're not likely to return in their roles, but still hoping that I'm wrong, they did well, I'd also liked to see them return as a part of continuity.
  • Agent_Zero_OneAgent_Zero_One Ireland
    Posts: 554
    If they were to retain anyone I'd bet on Fiennes. Kinnear as Tanner was sadly the fourth wheel of the regulars by SP. I think they'll go for a clean slate though.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,050
    MI6HQ wrote: »
    There's a possibility of Rory Kinnear reprising his role as Tanner, maybe Ralph Fiennes too, if he's not busy enough.

    But I'm not sure about Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw, I don't know but it's just my feeling everytime I look at them, there's a possibility that they're not likely to return in their roles, but still hoping that I'm wrong, they did well, I'd also liked to see them return as a part of continuity.
    If they were to retain anyone I'd bet on Fiennes. Kinnear as Tanner was sadly the fourth wheel of the regulars by SP. I think they'll go for a clean slate though.

    I think Ralph Fiennes could come back, because M is a job title. He could finally play Sir Miles, in a new timeline. Same with Major Boothroyd. Moneypenny, and Bill Tanner really aren’t job title (hopefully never will be). One character I feel that could (and arguably should) become reoccurring is Blofeld, at least on the level of Felix Leiter.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,895
    Yes - still hoping for Fiennes as Sir Miles Messervy, without any reference to past films. Pulling off the same trick twice runs the risk of it being a post-Modernist stunt, but it'd be worth it to keep Fiennes as M. Failing that, Samuel West as Sir Miles.
  • Posts: 1,545
    This series has given us the same actor portraying Bond's ally Henderson in YOLT, then bring him back just two films later - and in Connery's very next Bond, DAF - as the villain ! They have had the same actor play M - and she's supposed to be different version somehow but, really ? - in the Brosnan Bonds and then again in some of the Craig Bonds. They had Blofeld not recognize Bond from YOLT to OHMSS...but, of course, after all, there was a new actor in each role ! The point being - they've bent time, space and other realities before, so, what the heck...
  • Posts: 1,478
    Since62 wrote: »
    The point being - they've bent time, space and other realities before, so, what the heck...

    Indeed, and it's time to stop. Start fresh with everyone as if the previous films never existed. Otherwise Moneypenny and Q who were younger than Bond in the DC series will now be older than Bond in the new film.
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,482
    I think Ben Whishaw was the most likely to carry on in the series, but some of his interviews after NTTD, came across as disappointed with his character and the representation of Q being gay. Ben said something like, the scene was unsatisfying.

    I doubt the producers will bring him back, as much as I'd love that. I'd also love to see Naomie Harris back as Moneypenny, but I think they'll recast younger because Bond will be younger and I don't think they'll want Bond's age to be acknowledged too heavily.

    I think the next era of Bond will have more scaled down casting in general
  • Posts: 2,748
    I actually liked the fact that we got little glimpses into the MI6 team's lives during the Craig era. Nothing too overt, just little snippets like Q's flat and his date, M and her husband (who also seemed to die between QOS and SF? Good little detail), Moneypenny having a boyfriend etc.

    I do get where Wishaw was coming from about the NTTD scene though. He did say that it wasn't discussed with him beforehand and he chose not to bring it up. It does beg the question whether they would have included it at all if Wishaw himself wasn't openly gay. It's also debatable whether it was a detail included to reinforce the former point I mentioned or whether it was a way of minimally including gay characters in a big franchise that feels... I dunno, 'box ticking' 'safe'? He probably would be a bit more switched onto that aspect than perhaps a heterosexual actor.
  • Posts: 14,799
    Since62 wrote: »
    This series has given us the same actor portraying Bond's ally Henderson in YOLT, then bring him back just two films later - and in Connery's very next Bond, DAF - as the villain ! They have had the same actor play M - and she's supposed to be different version somehow but, really ? - in the Brosnan Bonds and then again in some of the Craig Bonds. They had Blofeld not recognize Bond from YOLT to OHMSS...but, of course, after all, there was a new actor in each role ! The point being - they've bent time, space and other realities before, so, what the heck...

    Off topic, but I'll always considered Blofeld not recognising Bond in OHMSS perfectly justified, even in-universe: let's just assume that when they met in the volcano he still had that Japanese makeup.
  • edited June 2022 Posts: 2,748
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Since62 wrote: »
    This series has given us the same actor portraying Bond's ally Henderson in YOLT, then bring him back just two films later - and in Connery's very next Bond, DAF - as the villain ! They have had the same actor play M - and she's supposed to be different version somehow but, really ? - in the Brosnan Bonds and then again in some of the Craig Bonds. They had Blofeld not recognize Bond from YOLT to OHMSS...but, of course, after all, there was a new actor in each role ! The point being - they've bent time, space and other realities before, so, what the heck...

    Off topic, but I'll always considered Blofeld not recognising Bond in OHMSS perfectly justified, even in-universe: let's just assume that when they met in the volcano he still had that Japanese makeup.

    I'm not really sure if even in universe the 'Japanese make-up' was going to fool anyone (Blofeld recognises Bond instantly for what it's worth).

    Also, let's be honest, it's probably best that the film downplayed Bond being disguised as a Japanese fisherman, haha. Instead of this:

    Connery+Japanese?format=1000w

    We could have had something like this...

    i-y-yunioshi-17efe454-866d-4700-8842-6c926bdda3e-resize-750.jpg
  • Posts: 14,799
    007HallY wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Since62 wrote: »
    This series has given us the same actor portraying Bond's ally Henderson in YOLT, then bring him back just two films later - and in Connery's very next Bond, DAF - as the villain ! They have had the same actor play M - and she's supposed to be different version somehow but, really ? - in the Brosnan Bonds and then again in some of the Craig Bonds. They had Blofeld not recognize Bond from YOLT to OHMSS...but, of course, after all, there was a new actor in each role ! The point being - they've bent time, space and other realities before, so, what the heck...

    Off topic, but I'll always considered Blofeld not recognising Bond in OHMSS perfectly justified, even in-universe: let's just assume that when they met in the volcano he still had that Japanese makeup.

    I'm not really sure if even in universe the 'Japanese make-up' was going to fool anyone (Blofeld recognises Bond instantly for what it's worth).

    Also, let's be honest, it's probably best that the film downplayed Bond being disguised as a Japanese fisherman, haha. Instead of this:

    Connery+Japanese?format=1000w

    We could have had something like this...

    i-y-yunioshi-17efe454-866d-4700-8842-6c926bdda3e-resize-750.jpg

    Well, he recognise him as Bond, but he's still not "au naturel". He's Bond... disguised as a Japanese. So he looks like a fake Japanese. In the novel, even Blofeld is hesitant about Bond's identity. So in the movie continuity, Blofeld meets Bond first as a badly disguised Japanese, then as Sir Hillary Bray.

    Anyway, maybe I'm reading way too much into it, but I always thought the discrepancies between YOLT and OHMSS are far less shocking than between the latter and DAF. I can just buy that Bond and Blofeld met before and yet don't recognise each other. But that they're in almost civil terms in DAF after the events of the previous movie? Not a chance!
  • Tokoloshe2Tokoloshe2 Northern Ireland
    Posts: 1,172
    If we're looking for a black M, as has been suggested in the past, Adrian Lester would be worth considering. Similar authority to the likes of David Harewood and he comes across convincingly as the Prime Minister in Channel 4's "The Undeclared War".
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 686
    Thandie Newton might be good as M.
  • CharmianBondCharmianBond Pett Bottom, Kent
    Posts: 533
    Thandie Newton might be good as M.

    *Thandiwe, but yes I would like to see that.
  • Thandie Newton might be good as M.

    *Thandiwe, but yes I would like to see that.

    Me Three
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    edited July 2022 Posts: 4,247
    Yeah, Thandiwe Newton won't be bad as M. But I'm looking at Gillian Anderson (even if she was previously Johnny English's Boss) or Jack Davenport as M.
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