It seems like every day we are getting more and more talk about NO TIME TO DIE even though the film has pushed to 2021. With this new film being Daniel Craig's final outing as 007, the marketing has pushed the importance of this installment of the series. While no Bond movie has ever passed the torch (all recasting has happened between films), many have speculated that in NO TIME TO DIE Lashana Lynch's character, Nomi, will have the iconic mantle of 007 handed to her.
Lynch recently spoke with Harper's Bazaar and alluded to her involvement with NO TIME TO DIE and while she does not outright address her role in the future of the Bond series, she does mention why she is honored to be a part of it.
I am one Black woman – if it were another Black woman cast in the role, it would have been the same conversation, she would have got the same attacks, the same abuse. I just have to remind myself that the conversation is happening and that I’m a part of something that will be very, very revolutionary.
While not a confirmation of Nomi succeeding Bond as 007, she does recognize the fan outcry based on her gender and ethnicity. We have heard similar rumblings about Idris Elba as a potential 007 as well as regarding Donald Glover as Spider-man and John Boyega as a Jedi in STAR WARS. Lynch never says one way or the other that she is 007, but being a Double O of any kind is certainly an important step for women and minorities who can now see someone in the Bond franchise that looks like them.
NO TIME TO DIE will continue on where SPECTRE left off, with James Bond having left active service to begin a new life with Dr. Swann (Léa Seydoux), but Bond is soon brought back into action when Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) comes calling to enlist his help in searching for a missing scientist. When it becomes apparent that the scientist was abducted, Bond must confront a danger the likes of which the world has never seen before in a villain armed with dangerous new technology. The film also stars Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas, Christoph Waltz, Ben Whishaw, Naomi Harris, Rory Kinnear, and Ralph Fiennes, with Cary Fukunaga directing from a script he co-wrote with Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. NO TIME TO DIE is currently slated to hit theaters on April 2, 2021.