Pierce Brosnan reacts with surprise to fans casting him as the next M in theJames Bondfranchise. He became cinema’s most famous secret agent back in 1997, stepping into 007’s tux for the smash hitGoldenEye, and staying on for three more movies before passing the torch to Daniel Craig. Two decades after stepping away from the franchise, and weeks after Amazon took full control of the IP, Brosnan surprisingly finds himself being fancast as a new character inBond 26and perhaps beyond.
Brosnan himself recently addressed his possible return as 007, indicating that he wasn’t ruling it out entirely, but he evidently wasn’t aware of fans casting him not to play Bond again but to replace Ralph Fiennes as M, as he expressed in a new interview (viaTelegraph):
“Really? That’s nuts. Oh for God’s sake, let’s see where the wind takes us. … My wife tells me some of this stuff, about the buzz going on here and there, but she hadn’t told me that one.”
What This Means For The James Bond Franchise
Bond Actors Have Returned As New Characters Before
It hasn’t happened very often in Bond franchise history that an actor has exited the franchise, only to later return. Sean Connery famously left for one movie before coming back for his Bond swan song inDiamonds Are Forever, but no other 007 has ever served two non-consecutive turns as the lead character.
There have been two notable cases of Bond franchise actors playing one-off characters in one movie, and returning later as a completely different character. Charles Gray made his Bond debut in 1967’sYou Only Live Twice, playing Bond’s contact Henderson, then returned to play Blofeld inDiamonds Are Forever. Iconic Bond girl Maud Adams also turned that particular trick, playing Andrea inThe Man With the Golden Gun, and later coming back to play the title character in 1983’sOctopussy.
Adams made a third, very brief Bond franchise appearance, acting as an extra in a crowd scene inA View to a Kill
What’s unprecedented is someone playing Bond himself, then returning to play someone other than 007. Brosnan recently indicated in an interview withGQthat he might be game to join Connery in the non-consecutive-Bond club, saying “How could I not be interested?” His new remarks don’t close the door on him playing M, but do seem to indicate that Brosnan finds the idea unlikely, if not completely wild.
Our Take On Brosnan Playing M In The Bond Franchise
It Would Be A Fun Way To Bring Him Back
Oscar-winning actors like Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes have been attracted to M, a role that requires a certain gravitas to carry off. Brosnan is not in the same class as Dench or Fiennes, having never been nominated for an Oscar, but he does have the chops to play M, with perhaps more of a debonair touch.
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While Brosnan’s interpretation of M would be fun and interesting to witness, it would also be very strange seeing a former 007 step into the role. The move would also open up lots of canon-related questions for those who need those loops closed. Would Brosnan’s M be an older version of his 007, now kicked upstairs, or would he be a totally different character? If he is an older 007, does that confirm that the James Bond moniker is itself a code name?
Amazon MGM Studios and their newly-appointed Bond overseers Amy Pascal and David Heyman have a lot of decisions to make, includingpicking a new James Bond actor. Bringing back Brosnan as M might be a fun way of nodding to the franchise’s past, but could also be unnecessarily distracting and might even be too jokey, depending on the tone the new producers are going for.
Bond 26is still a long way from arriving, at any rate, and there will be many exciting casting reports and plenty of juicy rumors, some perhaps involving Brosnan, in the weeks and months to come.
