Nick Harkaway
@nickharkaway.com
Book-writin' man. Also husband, dad and occasional clothing-repairer, dog-walker, enthusiastic improviser of temporary solutions to random problems. Decreasingly rigorous on social media.
www.linktr.ee/harkaway
He/him
www.linktr.ee/harkaway
He/him
And who do you put her up against? Is it sort of a bald guy with a cat and a secret base, or a more realistically brutal international arms dealer?
November 11, 2025 at 1:25 PM
And who do you put her up against? Is it sort of a bald guy with a cat and a secret base, or a more realistically brutal international arms dealer?
:) change of management- call it a parting gift
November 11, 2025 at 12:34 PM
:) change of management- call it a parting gift
(I said wistfully to @adamchristopher.me that I’d like to see Modesty Blaise - arguably a really interesting character for 2025.)
November 11, 2025 at 12:32 PM
(I said wistfully to @adamchristopher.me that I’d like to see Modesty Blaise - arguably a really interesting character for 2025.)
It’s one way, for sure. Kicks up all the same discussions about what you want from the world and quite a few more. What would you want her to be like?
November 11, 2025 at 12:30 PM
It’s one way, for sure. Kicks up all the same discussions about what you want from the world and quite a few more. What would you want her to be like?
That’s what marketing budgets are for. Once upon a time, no one knew who John Wick was either.
November 11, 2025 at 12:22 PM
That’s what marketing budgets are for. Once upon a time, no one knew who John Wick was either.
I’m literally lying down sulking because I have to edit out a tradecraft sequence I took ages over because, er, it’s bad.
November 11, 2025 at 12:07 PM
I’m literally lying down sulking because I have to edit out a tradecraft sequence I took ages over because, er, it’s bad.
I’m… mostly kidding. I really did think it was a compelling starting point, and if I wasn’t on about three deadlines I’d already be drafting something.
November 11, 2025 at 12:04 PM
I’m… mostly kidding. I really did think it was a compelling starting point, and if I wasn’t on about three deadlines I’d already be drafting something.
Means there’s a window in the schedule for our project with @dankaszeta.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Means there’s a window in the schedule for our project with @dankaszeta.bsky.social
(I’m begging you: not the darkly thoughtful self-exegesis. There are enough things that “make you think” in the world. I would desperately like Bond not to be one of them. That’s opening a Mars bar and finding it’s made of bran.)
November 11, 2025 at 11:57 AM
(I’m begging you: not the darkly thoughtful self-exegesis. There are enough things that “make you think” in the world. I would desperately like Bond not to be one of them. That’s opening a Mars bar and finding it’s made of bran.)
But that leaves you with the underlying question unanswered: what do you want this thing to feel like? Because that kind of coy meta-nod runs freely into Roger Moore-like goofery, straight action or darkly thoughtful self-exegesis with equal ease.
November 11, 2025 at 11:55 AM
But that leaves you with the underlying question unanswered: what do you want this thing to feel like? Because that kind of coy meta-nod runs freely into Roger Moore-like goofery, straight action or darkly thoughtful self-exegesis with equal ease.
I’m not much of a Bondologist, honestly. I read some of the books, watched most of the movies. Used to sit between my parents with a crumpet and fall asleep in the romance bits when I was little.
November 11, 2025 at 11:49 AM
I’m not much of a Bondologist, honestly. I read some of the books, watched most of the movies. Used to sit between my parents with a crumpet and fall asleep in the romance bits when I was little.
Could do. Rather see someone make Modesty Blaise properly, but maybe that’s asking too much.
November 11, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Could do. Rather see someone make Modesty Blaise properly, but maybe that’s asking too much.
The cute answer is to begin the new story with the death of 007, recruit a new guy and have his name be revealed later as James Bond. You never specify what the old 007’s name was or if the new guy has adopted the name, so people can believe what they like. Reboot or cont’d? Don’t care. Action!
November 11, 2025 at 11:37 AM
The cute answer is to begin the new story with the death of 007, recruit a new guy and have his name be revealed later as James Bond. You never specify what the old 007’s name was or if the new guy has adopted the name, so people can believe what they like. Reboot or cont’d? Don’t care. Action!
So *any escape, however achieved* is a death anyway. Goodbye to that period, and hello to a new one where the pieces required to escape a trap so absolute can materialise at any moment.
November 11, 2025 at 11:35 AM
So *any escape, however achieved* is a death anyway. Goodbye to that period, and hello to a new one where the pieces required to escape a trap so absolute can materialise at any moment.
So his death at the end of the last movie pays for his sins, delivers his reward and ends the Craig era all in one. The whole point of it is that it’s self-cauterising - which is why it’s so desperately final. There can’t, on his terms, be a way out.
November 11, 2025 at 11:32 AM
So his death at the end of the last movie pays for his sins, delivers his reward and ends the Craig era all in one. The whole point of it is that it’s self-cauterising - which is why it’s so desperately final. There can’t, on his terms, be a way out.
PS the more I think about it, the more I think Craig’s Bond was essentially in love with death. His self-loathing and his alienation shift Bond’s devil-may-care daring to a kind of existential indifference. His longing for a judgement can only be delivered in his extinction.
November 11, 2025 at 11:31 AM
PS the more I think about it, the more I think Craig’s Bond was essentially in love with death. His self-loathing and his alienation shift Bond’s devil-may-care daring to a kind of existential indifference. His longing for a judgement can only be delivered in his extinction.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
For added realism he should have an arm in a sling and some of those dissolving stitches just above his right eyebrow as a little nod to the great Sir Roger Moore.
November 11, 2025 at 11:20 AM
For added realism he should have an arm in a sling and some of those dissolving stitches just above his right eyebrow as a little nod to the great Sir Roger Moore.
So there’s my only real point, I suppose: the real question is what this show will be. How you handle the segue follows from that choice.
I hope they’re enjoying the discussion, because they get to play either some really great toys here :)
I hope they’re enjoying the discussion, because they get to play either some really great toys here :)
November 11, 2025 at 10:48 AM
So there’s my only real point, I suppose: the real question is what this show will be. How you handle the segue follows from that choice.
I hope they’re enjoying the discussion, because they get to play either some really great toys here :)
I hope they’re enjoying the discussion, because they get to play either some really great toys here :)
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Style it out. Bond walks into Ms office. "Bond? I thought you were dead!". "Well, so do a lot of people." Move on to the crisis plot and never mention it again.
November 11, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Style it out. Bond walks into Ms office. "Bond? I thought you were dead!". "Well, so do a lot of people." Move on to the crisis plot and never mention it again.
I’m not proud: I’d like it to be fun, consciously unreal and have plenty of gadgets. YMMV and that’s all good :)
November 11, 2025 at 10:42 AM
I’m not proud: I’d like it to be fun, consciously unreal and have plenty of gadgets. YMMV and that’s all good :)
People are coming up with solid - if silly - ways through in this thread. It’s fun!
But the serious (ish) side of the conversation is about how to go forward with the Bond story in general - of which the “how is he alive?!” convo is a bellwether.
But the serious (ish) side of the conversation is about how to go forward with the Bond story in general - of which the “how is he alive?!” convo is a bellwether.
November 11, 2025 at 10:41 AM
People are coming up with solid - if silly - ways through in this thread. It’s fun!
But the serious (ish) side of the conversation is about how to go forward with the Bond story in general - of which the “how is he alive?!” convo is a bellwether.
But the serious (ish) side of the conversation is about how to go forward with the Bond story in general - of which the “how is he alive?!” convo is a bellwether.