007 film must treat Bond girls properly, says Waller-Bridge

Fast cars, martinis and Bond girls are core parts of the formula for 007 films, but one of those elements is set for a change in the latest adventure.

Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who is working on the script for the 25th Bond film, is on a mission to make sure the movie will “treat women properly” – even if the spy does not.

Ahead of the release of the as-yet-untitled film, Waller-Bridge told Deadline: “There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not (the Bond franchise) is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women.

“I think that’s b*******. I think he’s absolutely relevant now. It has just got to grow.

“It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly.

“He doesn’t have to. He needs to be true to this character.”

Waller-Bridge says she intends to ensure the female characters, including those played by Lashana Lynch, Lea Seydoux and Ana de Armas, feel “like real people “.

She added: “I just want to make sure that when they get those pages through, that Lashana, Lea and Ana open them and go, ‘I can’t wait to do that’.

“As an actress, I very rarely had that feeling early in my career.

“That brings me much pleasure, knowing that I’m giving that to an actress.”

Waller-Bridge also spoke of her excitement at working on Daniel Craig’s Bond.

She said: “When I saw his Bond for the first time, there was a wryness to his performance that I really loved, so I was really excited about writing dialogue for him.

“I mean, the script was there. It’s already there. I think it’s unfair to say that I’m writing the script.”

Bond 25 will be directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and is due for release in 2020.