Just to put my James Bond fan hat on, I just came across this article arguing that the next actor to play 007 could be black, or even a woman. Of course, there has been a lot of speculation about who could next play Bond, but the argument goes that the films would be more reflective of contemporary intelligence work if someone other than a white man could step into the famous suit. While I think they have a point, I feel Bond is a manifestly male character and should be played by a man: he is, after all, a cold, brutal government assassin and a disgusting misogynist. As I wrote here some time ago, I have no issue with a black man playing 007 – I can think of plenty of black male actors who would make fantastic Bonds – yet, as a character created by Ian Fleming, Bond is fundamentally male. Changing his gender would spoil the entire dynamic.

On the other hand, there is also talk of spin-offs from the James Bond franchise which could be about different, female characters. That would obviously be less problematic, although whether such spin off films ever get off the ground, or are any good if they do, remains very much to be seen.