The One Element That Denis Villeneuve Needs to Bring Back to James Bond
The question isn't "Who's the next James Bond?" but rather "What kind of toys will the next James Bond get to play with?"
Whenever a new James Bond movie is announced, rumors spread like wildfire. Who’s going to don the super-spy’s tux? Who’s the new Bond girl? Who’s the villain? Now that visionary director Denis Villeneuve has boarded the next Bond adventure, those rumors are once again heating up – particularly when it comes to who’s taking up the 007 mantle after Daniel Craig.
While we wait for those rumors to shake out, however, let’s examine one less-heralded element of the James Bond mythos that Villeneuve should bring back to his incarnation: the gadgets.
Besides his trusty Walther PPK, James Bond is often equipped with a set of high-tech gadgets by his quartermaster, or “Q.” There’s the suitcase that has a variety of items, including a folding sniper rifle and a gas bomb. There’s the exploding pen from GoldenEye. And who could forget Bond’s trusty Aston Martin DB5? However, the Craig era slowly de-emphasized the gadgets, save for an updated Aston Martin in Casino Royale and a mini radio/fingerprint-sensitive Walther PPK in Skyfall.
Villeneuve should bring the gadgets back to emphasize that James Bond is a larger-than-life figure. The women he romances are some of the most beautiful on the planet, and his adventures take him from one end of the globe to another. Plus the villains he fights are just as memorable: whether it’s Blofield and SPECTRE, Oddjob, or Xenia Onatopp (my personal favorite, as she combined the allure of a Bond girl with the sinister edge all Bond’s villains carry.) The gadgets add to that, as they usually take the form of unexpected items and give Bond the edge over his foes.
In today’s tech world, Villeneuve has no shortage of creative ideas to bring to the table for Bond’s gadgets. Most of us are able to control our cars, our fridges, and other appliances via apps on our phones – so just imagine the type of smartphone Bond would have! A 3D printed gun could be another asset, especially as Bond flies around the globe and might need to smuggle his weapons via unorthodox methods. Another thing that Bond could use is a bulletproof suit; if it worked for John Wick, why not for the super spy?
Some might point out that the gadgets wouldn’t fit Denis Villeneuve’s usual vision, but his films Blade Runner 2049 and the Dune movies offer a perfect rebuttal. Not only do those projects prove that Villeneuve has the juice to bring Bond to life, but they also feature cutting edge (and sometimes charmingly rinky-dink) technology – retinal scanners, flying cars, spaceships, and Dune: Part One’s hunter-seeker assassin drone. If Villeneuve can bring those ideas to life, then he can definitely give Bond’s gear a modern tune-up while also getting creative with it.