Lashana Lynch To Portray The New 007 In Upcoming Bond Film: Reports
According to new reports, the Idris Elba theory has fallen flat as the new 007 agent set to replace the image once portrayed by Daniel Craig is actually a black woman, specifically British actress Lashana Lynch.
"There is a pivotal scene at the start of the film where M says 'Come in 007'," an insider tells the Daily Mail. "And in walks Lashana who is black, beautiful and a woman. It's a popcorn-dropping moment. Bond is still Bond but he's been replaced as 007 by this stunning woman."
The Mail goes on to clarify, however, that Lynch is not shaking up the entire Bond storyline as she portrays the agent who adopts the codename that James Bond gives up after his departure from MI6.
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney
As it turns out, Bond 25 won't be without Craig after all as it takes place in Jamaica where the now-retired Bond resides, that is until his retirement is disrupted when M--played by Ralph Fiennes--calls Bond in on another international crisis.
"Bond, of course, is sexually attracted to the new female 007 and tries his usual seduction tricks, but is baffled when they don't work on a brilliant, young black woman who basically rolls her eyes at him and has no interest in jumping into his bed. Well, certainly not at the beginning," the insider details, adding that the label of "Bond Girls" is now forbidden. "We were all told that from now on they are to be addressed as 'Bond Women'."
On the interesting twist, fans have writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, of the critically-acclaimed "Killing Eve" series, to thank.
"There's been a lot of talk about whether or not Bond is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women," Waller-Bridge previously noted. "I think that's b******s. I think he's absolutely relevant now. [The franchise] has just got to grow. It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesn't have to. He needs to be true to his character.