The James Bond franchise is officially entering a new era. Daniel Craig officially hung up the tux and put away the Walther PPK after No Time to Die (2021), leaving behind a legacy of gritty, grounded spy stories and a world that began to experiment somewhat with gender and character shifts. But while that timeline is now being reset with another Bond reboot in the works, the Daniel Craig 007 timeline might not necessarily be over just yet.
The fifth and final film in Craig’s series, which began with Casino Royale (2006) and included Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), and Spectre (2015), introduced two standout female characters: Lashana Lynch’s Nomi, who temporarily inherited the 007 designation after Bond had retired off screen following the events of Spectre, and Ana de Armas’ Paloma, a CIA operative who stole one of the film’s most memorable sequences.
Nomi’s 007 status divided fans when the initial trailer dropped, but once No Time to Die was released, it cleared up any doubts in fans’ minds — Nomi’s role as 007 was only temporary. But the conversation around a female lead didn’t end there.
Paloma’s introduction proved that a woman could lead the series, and Armas’ most recent performance in this year’s John Wick spinoff Ballerina (2025) reinforced her credentials as a lead in physically demanding, action-heavy roles.
A James Bond spinoff like Ballerina focusing on Paloma, whether a film or a television series — one set in the same timeline as the Craig films, of course — could expand the James Bond universe without affecting the upcoming film reboot from Amazon MGM.
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In addition to the new film from Amazon MGM, which has director Denis Villeneuve (Dune, Dune: Part Two) attached and is expected to start anew from a continuity perspective with a new actor as Bond, there’s also the upcoming video game “007 First Light” from developers IO Interactive, which stars Irish actor Patrick Gibson as Bond.
But if the franchise ever decides to truly “shake and stir” things up in a spinoff that’s unrelated to the new reboot, Ana de Armas appears uniquely suited to lead the charge.
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