There’s a moment during the 2021 film No Time To Die when Lashana Lynch’s MI6 agent, Nomi, tells James Bond that she’s not in the mood for his antics. To be more precise, she says she’ll put a bullet in his knee if he dares to get in her way, before piloting a glider, with Bond contemplating his retirement in the back seat, away from danger.
As much as Lynch’s history-making turn as the first Black, female 007 symbolised huge progress for a franchise long associated with toxic masculinity, it sparked a predictable wave of sexist abuse. Male critics were outraged by the narrative update, devoting entire essays to the same tired question: can a woman really be the next James Bond?
But here’s the thing: they don’t even need to be. Whomever Daniel Craig’s successor might be, it’s time to retire the idea that women should compete to play a character that Dame Judi Dench’s M famously branded a ‘sexist, misogynist dinosaur’. We deserve better. Why would we want a female James Bond, when we can have a comparably brilliant role of our own?
Quite simply, creating original characters is the best way to carve a new cultural blueprint. In the past few years, an increasing number of projects have been putting women centre stage. Take Claire Danes’ rule-breaking CIA officer Carrie Mathison in Homeland, Jennifer Lawrence’s ballerina-turned-assassin in Red Sparrow or Charlize Theron’s ruthless MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton in Atomic Blonde.
Then there’s Angelina Jolie as an operative in Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Salt – the latter, a role that had been penned for Tom Cruise. And who could forget Killing Eve, which captivated viewers with its cat-and-mouse chase between MI5 security officer Eve Polastri and assassin Villanelle? The success of these projects proves viewers want to see women as worthy adversaries in the spy world, instead of pretty props who cater to the needs of male heroes.
Though it’s taken a while for female operatives to wholly be in the field of danger, they’re now participating at full throttle – and this winter, we get to meet a fresh hero in Netflix’s new thriller Black Doves. Wrapped up in the guise of a Christmas mystery, the series stars Keira Knightley as undercover spy Helen Webb, who teams up with old friend and assassin Sam (Ben Whishaw) to avenge the murder of her lover. Cue a high-stakes journey into London’s murky underworld that leads them to grapple with political conspiracy and the consequences of their shady moral choices.
The show heralds a promising new era for the female spy, who is no longer a passive passenger but taking the steering wheel. At last, we’re getting characters who can land an accurate shot, display a sixth sense for vital clues and have a compelling backstory to boot.
Black Doves airs on Netflix on 5th December
