Now that Daniel Craig’s iteration of James Bond has been well and truly retired thanks to the explosive finale of No Time to Die, 007 fans have been left wondering who will be chosen to slip into the iconic tux – with some even wondering whether it could result in an even more surprising choice than expected. While some have floated the idea of gender-swapping the beloved character, according to producer Barbara Broccoli, James Bond will remain male.

"I think it will be a man because I don’t think a woman should play James Bond. I believe in making characters for women and not just having women play men’s roles. I don’t think there are enough great roles for women, and it’s very important to me that we make movies for women about women. He should be British, so British can be any [ethnicity or race].”

While Broccoli, who shares control of the 007 franchise with her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, is not averse to diversifying the role of James Bond, she seemingly has no interest in making the spy female, with the producer instead favoring the creation of characters for women to play, rather than simply gender-swapping existing ones. No Time to Die went some way to achieving this, and though the movie of course centers on Craig in his final adventure, the likes of Lashana Lynch as Nomi and Ana de Armas as Paloma proved to be hugely popular additions.

Broccoli’s words echo the sentiments of Daniel Craig himself, who too believes that studios should focus on crafting better roles of women. "The answer to that is very simple,” Craig said when asked about the idea of gender-swapping Bond. “There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?"

James Bond fans may not have to wait as long as expected to find out who the next 007 will be, with MGM President of Motion Pictures Pamela Abdy recently revealing that, "It’s wide open. We’ve had very early preliminary conversations with Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [Wilson], but we wanted Daniel to have his last hurrah." No Time to Die left Bond’s return in a much more difficult position than usual, but Barabra Broccoli has assured that the character will be back. “We’ll figure that one out, but he will be back. You can rest assured James Bond will be back,” she said earlier this month.

But the question remains, who will it be? There are several household names on the fan-casting roster, many of whom possess the qualities to portray a great James Bond. These include the likes of Man of Steel and The Witcher star Henry Cavill, Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s Tom Hardy, The Suicide Squad star Idris Elba, Eternals actor Richard Madden, and Snake Eyes star Henry Golding.

Until the newest James Bond is revealed, audiences can once again revel in Daniel Craig’s swansong when No Time to Die is released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD Collector's Editions on December 21, 2021. This comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter.