The 007 finalists are all tall, white Brits. Is this really the Bond we need now?

Résumé détaillé

The field is narrow, and the look weirdly uniform. But the screen’s favourite spy may yet surprise us.

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Picture a man, seated at a poker table, wearing a white tuxedo jacket with a red carnation tucked in the lapel. He turns to you with a twinkle in his eye and asks for a vodka martini – shaken, not stirred. What does this man look like? Broad and muscular? Or lithe and spry? Is he blue-eyed or brown-eyed? Blond or brunette? Scottish, Irish, Australian or authentically British? If you were in charge of choosing the next iteration of James Bond – cultural icon and juggernaut franchise figurehead – what kind of man would you tap for the job?

The trio of named actors seems to suggest that Amazon MGM has no intention of reinventing the wheel when it comes to casting Bond. For years, Black actors such as Idris Elba and Regé-Jean Page were touted as possible 007s, while some dream-casters went even further: why not Jane Bond? It is the 21st century after all. But let’s not forget that this new Jeff Bezos-backed Bond must meet not only the whims of hyper-critical international audiences, but those of risk-averse tech industry shareholders as well.

Thus we have Turner, Lowden and O’Connor – each very talented, make no mistake – but each of them white, 185-187cm tall and 36 years old. So while the most agonisingly drawn-out casting process in living memory does feel a bit like it’s arriving at the most predictable possible outcome, within the relatively homogenous ranks of these three would-be Bonds there’s an intriguing diversity of attributes and attitudes that bears further scrutiny – and clues to the future of the franchise may well lie in its past.

Everyone has their favourite Bond, just like everyone has their favourite Beatle, and it’s impossible to discuss the next 007 without invoking the six men who have played him over the past 60 years and 25 films.

Ask anyone from my parents’ generation and they’ll probably tell you that the original remains the best: Sean Connery’s sly…

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