Actress Lashana Lynch is reportedly playing Agent 007 in Bond 25, the next movie in the Ian Fleming-inspired series expected to hit theaters early in 2020.
Sources that reportedly spoke with Mail on Sunday revealed that Lashana Lynch will not be playing James Bond. Her character replaced Bond as Agent 007 after Daniel Craig’s Bond retired to Jamaica following years of service as an M16 agent.
However, Lt. Col. Gareth Mallory (M), the head of M16, calls Bond back from retirement after a new global crisis threatens.
The idea of having James Bond pass the Agent 007 (“license to kill”) role to a female reportedly originated from screenwriter Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Killing Eve, Fleabag, Solo: A Star Wars Story).
According to the sources that reportedly spoke with Mail on Sunday, Daniel Craig will still play James Bond, but at the start of the movie, he will be in retirement in Jamaica. A “pivotal scene” shows M saying, “Come in 007,” and Lashana Lynch’s character will enter as the new Agent 007.
The source went on to reveal that when Daniel Craig’s Bond returns from retirement in Jamaica, he will try to seduce the new Agent 007 but she will reject his advances — at least at the beginning of the film.
The source added that Bond 25 will feature the action scenes that fans love, and will take a fresh perceptive on the role of women that is consistent with today’s society.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Christopher Waltz will reprise his role as Blofeld.
The news comes following concerns about the delay in the start of production of Bond 25, due partly to Craig’s recent ankle injury and Rami Malek’s busy schedule.
Who is Lashana Lynch?
Lashana Lynch was born on November 27, 1987. She is from Hammersmith, West London, but of Jamaican descent. She studied Acting at London’s ArtsEd drama school.
She made her film debut as Belle Newman in the drama film Fast Girls (2011) and played Laura in Powder Room (2013). She is best known for her breakout role as Maria Rambeau, Carol Danvers’ friend and fellow Air Force fighter pilot in MCU’s Captain Marvel (2019).
Her TV credits include the role of Precious Miller on ITV’s police procedural The Bill (2007) and Shona Benson on ITV’s BBC crime drama series Silent Witness (2013). She appeared as Areto in BBC’s fantasy adventure series Atlantis (2014) and as Kerry Wright in the BBC TV movie The 7.39 (2014). She portrayed Jasmine Laymon in Death in Paradise (2015) and Gema in the BBC sitcom Crims (2015).
She played Leah Gattis in the medical soap opera Doctors (2016) and Rosaline Capulet in Shonda Rhimes’ ABC period drama series Still Star-Crossed (2017). She portrays Arjana Pike on the Sky One drama series Bullet Proof (2018- ) and Agent 355 in Y, set to premiere on FX in (2020).
It was announced in April that Lynch joined the cast of the upcoming Bond 25.