No Time to Die star Lashana Lynch jokes that even a 2-year-old could play James Bond. Lynch, who played the MCU's Monica Rambeau in Captain Marvel, plays a new MI6 agent named Nomi in the long-awaited Bond film. No Time to Die is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective Season 1) and scheduled to release wide in the US on October 8.

No Time to Die, the 25th Bond film and the 5th and final appearance of Daniel Craig as the fictional British superspy, has for many become heavily associated with the pandemic. Originally scheduled to premiere in April 2020, Fukunaga's film was the first major blockbuster to suffer COVID-related delays, and it would be moved a further two times before reaching its current release date. Having waited so long to see No Time to Die, fans might be hesitant to discuss the long-term future of the franchise, lest they be robbed again of its immediate future. But, who will replace Craig as Bond remains an open question.

Related: No Time To Die Trailer Proves The Craig Era's Biggest Bond Change Right

Lynch, in an interview with the Guardian, jokes that it doesn't really matter who they pick as Craig's successor. She believes the next iteration of the character doesn't need to be white and male, because the franchise is such a big draw, audiences will come no matter who is on the poster. Even, she jokes, if that were a toddler:

We are in a place in time where the industry is not just giving audiences what it thinks the audience wants. They’re actually giving the audience what they want to give the audience. With Bond, it could be a man or woman. They could be white, Black, Asian, mixed race. They could be young or old. At the end of the day, even if a 2-year-old was playing Bond, everyone would flock to the cinema to see what this 2-year-old’s gonna do, no?

Lashana Lynch No Time to Die

Her character has been confirmed to have taken over the 007 moniker in No Time to Die, which picks up five years after Bond retired following the events of Spectre, but elsewhere in the interview, Lynch laughs off rumors that she is to replace Craig. She believes the No Time to Die team was initially looking for someone who could challenge Bond when he tries to reimpose his authority, but she is really pleased with how the character has developed throughout the writing process. In particular, she worked with co-writer and Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge to ensure Nomi was awkward and relatable in addition to good at her job.

While there is truth to Lynch's joke, in that the search for a new Bond would do well to cast a wide net, finding a successor to Craig will certainly be a challenge. The English actor went from a controversial choice for 2006's reboot Casino Royale to a global icon practically synonymous with the role, and it could be difficult for fans to move on from his portrayal. With the film industry questioning whether big-budget blockbusters still make sense in today's media landscape, whoever picks up the character after No Time to Die could determine whether this long-running franchise ever reaches a 30th installment.

More: No Time To Die Reveals The Sad Truth About James Bond's Legacy

Source: Guardian

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