Actress Lashana Lynch is the New 007

By Ammar Haziq  •  16 Jul 2019 in News

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James Bond aka Agent 007 is synonymous with spy movies, and with Hollywood churning out remixed pop culture on a monthly basis, it looks like Ian Fleming’s beloved character is getting a much overdue make-over.

Bond has had some wild adventures on screen since his first appearance (played by Sean Connery) in 1962’s Dr No, but while the titular character’s sexism toned down as the decades went by, one thing remains, he’s still a white dude.

It’s been confirmed that Daniel Craig is reprising his role in Bond 25 as the martini drinking-savvy agent, with Cristoph Waltz who’s also reprising his role as Blofeld, the big baddie in 2015’s Spectre. As elated as fans were, everyone lost their minds when, fresh off the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, award-winning thespian Rami Malek announced that he’ll be joining the cast.

But now, a new scoop has revealed that a new actress is joining the cast, and possibly stealing the thunder from Bond himself.

Lashana Lynch, a black actress will not only be joining the team, but also replacing Bond as Agent 007, taking over his codename after Bond left MI6 in the last movie. The plot twist made a number of people happy and excited for the movie, except for some racists and sexists, of course.

As reported by The Mail, an anonymous “movie insider” says the new film opens up with Bond (Craig), retired in Jamaica being called back to work as a new villain pops up.

“There’s a pivotal scene at the start of the film where M says, ‘Come in 007’, and walks in Lashana who is black, beautiful and a woman,” the source said. “It’s a popcorn-dropping moment. Bond is still Bond but he’s been replaced as 007.”

The 31-year old British actress is made her breakthrough as fighter pilot in Captain Marvel earlier this year. News of her being cast as 007 garnered a lot of praises on social media. This came just weeks after Disney announce that black American singer Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel in the live-action remake of the Disney Classic The Little Mermaid.

Wow. Lashana Lynch is the next 007. She’s not playing Bond, but will take over the code name. Brava, Phoebe Waller-Bridge for ushering in a new era where WoC can lead a spy series, like Sandra Oh in #KillingEve. H/t @iamlaurenp https://t.co/qcSpMHF2zR

— Nancy Wang Yuen (@nancywyuen) July 14, 2019

We’re moving into a new era and to see the growth and progression in Hollywood films is refreshing. It’s important to have diversity and representation in films because first; if you want to keep a franchise going and make it feel fresh, you gotta do something different. And second; despite years of Hollywood whitewashing, the world doesn’t revolve around only one ethnicity.

Bond 25 is now in production and will come to a cinema near you in February 2020. For more news, click here.