Former Bond Villain Robert Davi Warns Against Woke 007
Few cinematic legacies are as fiercely guarded as that of James Bond. For decades, the tuxedo-clad secret agent has remained an immovable pillar of the movie industry, as enduring as his taste for fast cars and beautiful women.
But with Amazon’s recent acquisition of creative control over the franchise, an old spectre has resurfaced—one that has nothing to do with Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
Robert Davi, the gravel-voiced heavy who menaced Timothy Dalton in Licence to Kill, has become the latest in a growing list of franchise alumni to voice unease over what the future may hold for 007.
With speculation rife over a possible woke reimagining of Bond as a woman or LGBT character, Davi has urged Amazon not to tamper with the essential DNA of Ian Fleming’s creation.
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A License to Reinvent?
Since Daniel Craig holstered the Walther PPK for good in No Time To Die, debate has raged over who—or what—comes next. Will Bond be rebooted in the mold of a modern action hero, primed for an era of gender-fluid storytelling and corporate virtue-signalling? Or will he remain the charismatic bruiser that generations have adored?
For Davi, the answer is obvious. “I hope it doesn’t,” he told Fox News Digital, when asked if Bond might “go woke” under Amazon’s stewardship. “I was very close to ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and his wife, Dana, and as far as I’m concerned, they were Ronald Reagan conservatives and wonderful people.”
Rather than retrofitting Bond to accommodate contemporary sensibilities, Davi suggests a more straightforward solution: create new characters instead.
“I think they should keep certain things… Create a different character,” he said. “Have somebody—not Ian Fleming—have someone else write a character that’s based on the current day and then separate that from Bond.”
The End of an Era?
Davi isn’t alone in his skepticism. Veteran casting director Debbie McWilliams, responsible for choosing every Bond actor since Roger Moore’s departure, recently walked away from the series, claiming that the franchise “won’t be the same” under Amazon’s influence.
Meanwhile, British actress Gemma Arterton, who played Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace, has dismissed the idea of a female 007 as a step too far.
“Sometimes you just have to respect the tradition,” said the British actress. “Isn’t a female James Bond like Mary Poppins being played by a man?”
Arterton’s comments come despite her own regret over her Bond girl appearance. She recently distanced herself from her Quantum of Solace role, but used her young age and having “a student loan” as an excuse to take on the role, before saying it’s something she’d rather forget.
Her disillusionment with the Bond girl archetype, however, hasn’t led her to advocate for radical reinvention. Instead, she appears to be among those who believe that some traditions—even those she personally regrets—should be left undisturbed.
Hollywood’s Changing Climate
Beyond Bond, Robert Davi has also voiced concern about the impact of his political views on his career. Best known outside of Licence to Kill for his role as the snarling Jake Fratelli in The Goonies, he fears his outspoken conservatism may see him excluded from the long-rumoured sequel.
“I hope that they don’t hold my politics against me and keep me from that project,” he said, citing past instances in which right-leaning actors had found themselves quietly frozen out of Hollywood’s casting circles.
Whether Bond himself will be subjected to a similar ideological filter remains to be seen. But as Amazon settles into its new role as gatekeeper of MI6, one thing is clear: the debate over 007’s future is just getting started. And as the saying goes, once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action.
