Ben Whishaw says James Bond "needs to be reinvented completely" as we wait for new 007

As the race to find the new James Bond is drawing to a close, franchise star Ben Whishaw has weighed in on how the spy film series could go on now that Daniel Craig has bowed out.

The Black Doves and Paddington star, who plays Q in the Bond films, addressed the five-year hiatus between Bond films, as Craig's final outing as Bond, No Time To Die, was released in 2021.

"The world has changed so much since the last Bond film so you have to find what is relevant about it," Whishaw said in an interview with The Times.

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"I think it needs to be reinvented completely. But it's not for me to say."

The actor also discussed the treatment of his character Q's sexuality, which was only touched upon in passing, as "unsatisfying".

He then added: "I rarely think about Bond. That would be weird."

With stars like Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O'Connor, plus a mystery man, being the finalists in the Bond casting, Whishaw recalled working on the films was "almost like being a spy".

"People go crazy about it," he said of the secretive aura surrounding the films.

"It's all deliberate hype. When you are working on it, it's incredibly secretive, almost like being a spy," he added.

"You only get the pages of the script that you are in. It's a ploy to create suspense and glamour, but it's kind of fun."

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We don't know whether Whishaw will appear in the upcoming Bond film, penned by Peaky Blinders' Steven Knight and directed by Dune's Denis Villeneuve.

The actor, however, will be back as hitman Sam in the second season of Netflix's spy show Black Doves, alongside Keira Knightley and Sarah Lancashire.

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Reporter, Digital Spy

Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy. 

Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).