http://www.afronerd.com/2018/08/dburt-revisits-idris-as-black-bond.html

It appears I’m back on my OCD grind, once AGAIN!  I assure our listeners/readers that THIS will be my final posting on the Idris Elba as James Bond supposition.  I am no genius but I am prone to pensivity on an occasion or two.  Having an epiphany during our last podcast, it became even more clear to me, how an expectant film audience is entitled to a Black and/or minority super agent but not necessarily a MI agent that gets a case of reverse vitiligo in between franchises.  While musing aloud during our infamous Grindhouse show, I thought about how DC’s Batman character is truly a some of his parts (i.e. his Bat Cave; Alfred Pennyworth; the Batmobile, etc) and in like-minded fashion, James Bond, too, has a host of idiosyncrasies. How would you recognize your favorite MI-6 agent without his vaunted Aston Martin , spy gadgets or special “shaken and not stirred” dry martini?” Trust me, the attorneys representing the Fleming estate, Eon Productions and MGM are copiously aware of the motifs that are distinctive to the Bond mystique.  So what do the aforementioned quirks have to do with an Africanized Bond?  The short answer is…nothing.  And therein lies the conundrum.

First and foremost, one shouldn’t have to inject their race/culture into every job, project or endeavor known to man. However, it serves no real purpose beyond the visual aesthetic, if we are going to explore a person of color assuming the 007 cinematic mantle.  Today’s movie going audience, especially in the wake of the linear successes of Get Out, The Black Panther and Sorry to Bother You, are extremely sophisticated and demanding of product that elicits worldbuilding and wait for it……character idiosyncrasies.  In the case of Elba or any other Black British actor, he or she (another  oft-discussed gender possibility….Jane Bond) would inherit Euro-Bond’s motifs.

Going back to my original premise, I would build (admittedly being completely self indulgent) a better…stronger…faster and Blacker Bond (archetype).  Would he work for a different British Intelligence agency (OSCT? NBIS?).   What kind of tricked out vehicle does he drive?

Does he (or again she…) wear formal clothing that subtly connotes his heritage (hence the African print bow tie)?

Where was a Black Bond educated? (maybe a Hampton/Morehouse/Howard and Oxford combo…maybe he studied medicine at Meharry, ELAM or Harvard).  Who are his associates and what is his spirit of choice?  Just as Tuvok (and more recently, Michael Burnam) is distinct from Mr. Spock and Miles Morales is Spiderman (and not Peter Parker) so should Black Bond (Hughes…..Desmond Hughes)…..food for thought.