Christopher Nolan has not been shy about his desire to make a Bond movie. One of his all-time favorite films is the George Lazenby one-off On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which appeared in between Connery efforts for what is now considered a fascinatingly off-model approach to the series; there’s a clear homage to that one in Inception, his 2010 sci-fi heist thriller. Nolan has returned to Bond again and again, from the way he uses recurring characters and far-flung locations in his Dark Knight trilogy to Tenet, which feels like “fine, I’ll do it myself” cinema, going even further than Inception in answering the question of what would Bond would look like if it somehow all took place inside of Nolan’s head.
Naturally, now that Bond is subject to both more creative freedom (having been bought out from the tightly controlling Broccoli family) and probably also a bit less (the purchaser being Amazon dot com), producers have decided to acquiesce to the inevitable and hire Christopher Nolan…’s obvious runner-up. (Also reportedly in the running, seriously: Christopher Nolan’s brother.) Intentionally or not, Denis Villeneuve has been positioned as the New Nolan, and you must admit, the parallels are there if you want them: A man from outside the U.S. (Canada swapped in for England) working in Hollywood, often but not exclusively with Warner Bros., with an affinity for IMAX-sized spectacle, whose movies include an intense Hugh Jackman drama (Prisoners in for The Prestige), time-bending movie about love (Arrival in for Interstellar), an experiential action movie (Sicario in for Dunkirk), and an epic-scale franchise revival (Dune movies in for Batman).
So how will Villenueve’s Bond differ from a hypothetical Nolan version? Well, it could have even less of a sense of humor. Nolan has a rep as a self-serious fellow, but most his movies do have laughs. (I’d even go so far as to call them endearingly corny.) There are a few funny bits in Dune and elsewhere, but Villeneuve’s sensibility is even heavier with portent; it’s why the fanboys love him, because he takes everything so seriously and validates their favorite dorky stuff. You think Nolan took Batman seriously enough? That’s nothing compared to how seriously Villeneuve takes a movie where people ride sandworms!
James Bond, it should be noted, is not especially in the market for increased grit. The Daniel Craig five-movie cycle did that already, to (mostly) acclaim and (inarguably) major box office – and like Nolan’s pictures, they have more of a dry wit than they’ve often given credit for. Villeneuve has cited Casino Royale as one of his favorite Bonds, and also has described the series as a comfort-movie go-to, so maybe he’s about to unveil something a little sexier and more fun than we would have assumed. After all, Casino Royale has a more serious tone than most previous Bond movies, but it’s also terrific entertainment. Even No Time to Die, which literally ends with, well, you know, has bits of that Old Bond magic courtesy of Ana de Armas. (Obviously the continuity of the Craig movies will not carry over. On the other hand… could it? Just to check in with de Armas’s Cuba operative for a bit?)
The other question is whether Bond simply ties another visionary director up in franchiseland. While Villeneuve might seem a little overqualified for a series where Martin Campbell is reigning god-king, on the other hand, do we want the man making Oscar bait? His best big-scale movies – Arrival and Sicario – bring some legitimate emotion and discordant notes to their pulpy set-ups. It’s easy to imagine his version of Oppenheimer turning downright lugubrious; maybe some spy antics really will brighten his mood. But the more hardcore Villeneuve fans – yes, I have received their internet comments asking where the hell Blade Runner 2049 was on various publications’ best-of-the-year lists – might also take this opportunity to accept that their guy wants to make this type of movie. (It’s been almost a decade since Arrival, and it’s hard to imagine that he doesn’t tackle either Dune 3 or Bond next, though presumably there’s time for a smaller movie if he really hustles.) Honestly, a lot of fans actually like him because he wants to make this type of movie: the kind of thing that looks challenging, but is actually doing high-level, bespoke fan service. The real question is what that might look like when the Bond fandom collides with the Denis brigade.
Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) is a writer living in Brooklyn podcasting at www.sportsalcohol.com. He’s a regular contributor to The A.V. Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others.
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