It’s been reported that James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, will have a five-year-old daughter in the upcoming film, No TIme To Die.
But the revelation has divided diehard Bond fans, with some calling the decision ‘woke’ and others claiming he’ll have no time for killing and womanising now.
Bond will be a doting dad to Mathilde, his daughter with love interest Dr Madeleine Swann, played by French actress Lea Seydoux.
‘No Time To Die? He’s got no time for anything now’: James Bond fans divided over news 007 will have a daughter as they speculate he’ll swap killing and womanising for ‘CBeebies’ (pictured with onscreen lover Lea Seydoux)
But fans swarmed to Twitter to write: ‘They’re trying to destroy this franchise in the name of wokeness.
‘Eh, James Bond ain’t no family man. He’s casnova reincarnated.’
‘And now suddenly everything makes sense. Of course, James Bond doesn’t have any time to die. He has a five-year-old. He hasn’t got time for anything any more.’
‘No Mr Bond, I expect you to watch CBeebies.” #BondBaby #NoTimeToDie.’
Others thought the move was a weak way to shoehorn in feminism and to show Bond as a changed man and others argued he would have multiple children by now.
More to come: Photographs taken during filming show a young girl wearing blue dungarees with Seydour and other actors and crew on the set, but it is not known if she is Mathilde
They wrote: ‘Hyped for film about how James Bond learns that women are people because he didn’t use a condom that one time.’
‘I refuse to believe that James Bond does not have many daughters by now.’
Others felt that this change of direction would signal a new side to the character, but some felt the movie was not in keeping with the books.
Divided: Twitter had lots to say about Bond becoming a father in the new movie – and many were not impressed
‘James Bond as the doting father of a five-year-old daughter. An added dimension to his character, but would make him both more vulnerable and more risk-averse.’
‘Stop messing with the format. Stop trying to turn a sexy franchise into Kindergarten Cop. Tracy/Vesper are the loves of Bond’s life, not Madeleine Swann – a classic dumb person’s idea of a sophisticated heroine.’
The Mail on Sunday confirmed on Saturday rumours that the notorious womaniser spy is father to a five-year-old daughter in the forthcoming film No Time To Die.
The rumours emerged last week when call sheets – the daily schedules that tell actors where they are needed for filming – for the £150 million film, the 25th in the ‘official’ Bond series, went up for sale on online auction site eBay.
The schedule describes a scene shot in southern Italy last September, which featured Dr Swann alongside Lashana Lynch’s Nomi – who this newspaper previously revealed will be the first black female 00 agent – and a child called Mathilde, played by five-year-old Lisa-Dorah Sonne.
‘Scene #235’, as the schedule calls it, details where ‘Nomi pilots Madeleine and Mathilde to safety with the island in the background’.
Paparazzi photographs taken during filming show a young girl wearing blue dungarees with the actors and crew on the set, but it is not known if she is Mathilde.
New role: Allegra Shettini, who ‘stood in’ for Lisa-Dorah Sonne during a sequence on the new Bond film
A film insider last night said: ‘Yes, it’s true. Bond is a dad. Daniel wanted to make this Bond film the most surprising and entertaining yet.
‘Daniel is older and his Bond is maturing and looking at life through the prism of fatherhood. But there’s a lot more to it than that.’
Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge was brought in to rewrite the script after original director Danny Boyle was replaced by Cary Joji Fukunaga.
The film is now packed with ‘woke’ references and the insider said making Bond a dad had ‘opened up a whole avenue of powerful moments – and jokes’, adding: ‘It’s the one thing fans would never expect.
‘Bond has always managed to charm his way into the hearts and beds of hundreds of beautiful women, seemingly without any consequences.
‘Making him a father opens up a whole new world in terms of drama and story development.’
In the new film, which was due to open in April but was pushed back to November because of the coronavirus pandemic, Bond is shown enjoying retirement in Jamaica, having hung up his Walther PPK pistol in favour of a quiet life.
No Time To Die is set five years after the last Bond film, Spectre, which saw the secret agent fall in love with Dr Swann, a French psychologist. Spectre ends with Bond driving off with her into the sunset in his old Aston Martin DB5.
The insider said: ‘Without giving too much away, the new film is filled with twists.
‘Bond appears to be happy in his new domestic life but then, of course, he gets dragged back in to save the world.’
No Time To Die opens with new Bond villain, Safin, played by Oscar-winner Rami Malek, chasing a girl across an ice-covered lake in Norway.
The scene is a ‘flashback’ of a young Madeleine Swann fleeing for her life. ‘Daniel wants to tie up lots of loose ends in his final film.
‘Everything is interwoven,’ the insider said. ‘Bond finding out he is a father is integral to the plot.’
Pictures have emerged of an Italian child, Allegra Shettini, who ‘stood in’ for Lisa-Dorah Sonne during a sequence.
She told a TV interviewer: ‘I just had to sit on a rock and play with a stick.’
The new movie involves Bond saving the world from a biological pandemic. ‘It’s not quite Covid-19, but it’s similar’, said the insider.
‘It’s very timely.’
Mixing things up: Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge was brought in to rewrite the script after original director Danny Boyle was replaced by Cary Joji Fukunaga