"JAMES BOND WILL RETURN" (we just don't know how yet)

Barbara Broccoli has admitted that she doesn't know how to bring James Bond back from the dead. But she's confirmed the character will return:

"We'll figure that one out, but he will be back. You can rest assured James Bond will be back".

Here are 5 possible ways.

1. "I always hated this place": a prequel

We know from the cinematic version of James Bond:

• 007 took a First in Oriental Languages at Cambridge (You Only Live Twice)
• His parents died in a climbing accident (GoldenEye)
• They were named Andrew Bond and Monique Delacroix (Skyfall)
• Bond became an orphan who "always make the best recruits", according to Dame Judi Dench's M (Skyfall)

Hannes Oberhauser gained custody over the 12-year-old Bond in 1983. This relationship led to Franz Oberhauser's jealousy of his foster brother in the much-maligned SPECTRE.

There's plenty of material to work with for a "young Bond" series of films. There's also the possibility of chronicling Bond's Navy years and rise to MI6.

Or working from Charlie Higson and Steve Cole's Young Bond novels. Yet, these are set in the 1930s to fit Ian Fleming's timeline.

N.B. Fleming wrote On Her Majesty's Secret Service (OHMSS) while Dr. No was filmed. He was influenced by the casting of Scottish actor Sean Connery and gave Bond Scottish ancestry.

2. "Welcome to hell, Blofeld": they carry on as if nothing happened

Picking up from the Daniel Craig era with another actor playing Bond could be awkward, especially if Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Rory Kinnear return. 

Until Daniel Craig, continuity was never the series' strong point. The constant chopping and changing of actors playing Felix Leiter and Blofeld is jarring.

The age-old argument of why Blofeld doesn't recognise Bond in OHMSS, having come face to face with him in the prior film, You Only Live Twice, still rages*.

Forgetting previous film(s) has happened many times before.

*Director Peter Hunt wanted to make a faithful screen adaption of Fleming's OHMSS novel, which he wrote before You Only Live Twice.

3. "Marie. Ask Marie": they pick up where OHMSS left off

Us Bond fans often lament that we never got a proper follow-up to the death of Bond's wife, Tracy, in OHMSS. Sean Connery returned to the role. It was as if then-producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were trying to erase George Lazenby's sole outing from our memories by camping it up in Diamonds Are Forever.

Picking up from George Lazenby holding his dead wife could be exciting but challenging, considering the time gap and change in actors. Yet, the deceased Donald Pleasance was brought back to incredible effect in 2021's Halloween Kills — without a single drop of CGI.

4. "There's no shame in saying you've lost a step": geriatric old Bond

Despite George Lazenby's adamancy that he's never regretted quitting after one film, he and Timothy Dalton have unfinished business with Bond.

We've already seen Bond in retirement in No Time To Die. Could we see a Bond in his 70s or 80s with a past that comes back to haunt him?

5. "This is my second life": Bond survived

The James Bond series has previously stretched the realms of possibility. Daniel Craig doing a Bobby Ewing in the shower, anyone?

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