I read somewhere earlier that Idris Elba has confirmed that he is not in the running to play James Bond. If he had taken the role, it would have been the first time 007 had been portrayed by a non-white actor. I’ve come across many reactions from Bond fans online welcoming this move and calling it common sense, but it made me wonder, would a Black Bond be such a bad thing? Those against the idea usually employ a reducto ad absurdum tactic, arguing that a black bond would open the gate to a disabled, lesbian transgender [insert a minority] Bond. That is, it could get silly and deviate too far from the character Ian Fleming created. While I see their point, I think there is room for maneuver with 007. He has always changed over his fifty years in cinema; compare Roger Moore’s Bond to Daniel Craig’s, and you see a completely different man. I have seen nothing in Fleming stipulating Bond’s skin colour, and even if there was, since when have his original texts been taken as gospel? Another argument played the ”it works both ways” card, suggesting that you wouldn’t have a black man playing Bond just as you couldn’t have a white guy playing Shaft. But bond and Shaft have totally different dynamics: the Shaft film(s) were about race with skin colour a major issue; the character was fixed and unchanging. The colour of bond’s skin isn’t fundamental to him, and I find the suggestion it is rather distasteful. As far as I can tell, the objections to an actor like Elba playing bond reduce down to either resistance to change or base prejudice: those screaming ”Bond is white!” forget the unique versatility if the character. 007 has always changed with the times – it’s one of the most fascinating things about the franchise. It might thus be time for Bond to evolve once more; and having a black man play him could take the franchise in an interesting new direction.