Charlie Higson said James Bond could be black but should not be a woman while meeting Boris Starling in a pub near his north London home. The latest official 007 novelist made the point as Amazon is believed to be nearing a decision on the seventh full-time cinematic Bond.
King Zero and the Bond split
Higson had just published King Zero, extending a Bond writing run that began with five Young Bond books. His comments arrive at a moment when the literary side and the film side are moving in different lanes, with the books tracing Bond’s development and the screen version heading toward a casting call that could reset the franchise’s public face.
“Bond could be black, that wouldn’t be a problem. But there’d be no point making Bond a woman, because the character’s about what it means to be a man. It’s a representation of manhood and manliness.” Higson’s view lands squarely in the middle of a debate that has followed James Bond ever since the sixth full-time cinematic Bond wrapped with No Time to Die in 2021.
Amazon and 007: First Light
“The film side and the literary side are two separate camps,” he said, drawing a line between the page and the screen. He also pointed to 007: First Light, which has Bond in his 20s, and asked whether the next screen version should move younger or follow the Dr No model, where Bond is already established and fully formed.
“Do they go down that route, of a younger man ‘becoming Bond’, or will it be what we saw in [the first Bond movie] Dr No – he’s there, he’s established, he’s who he is?” Higson said. That is the practical choice in front of Amazon: age, tone and identity, not just who gets the part.
Ian Fleming and Bond
“Whatever the answer, everyone will be very angry when they find out,” Higson said, and he is probably right. Bond has always carried public ownership with him, and Higson added another layer by noting that Ian Fleming suffered from depression and put a lot of that into Bond and the villains.
That makes the next casting call more than a personality contest. It is a choice over what Amazon wants Bond to represent, and Higson put the issue plainly: “It’ll come down to what Amazon want Bond to represent.” For fans of James Bond, the immediate takeaway is sharper than the usual franchise fog — black is on the table, woman is not, and the next decision will tell the market which version of James Bond Amazon wants to sell.
