James Bond movies: 007 is a 'cultural imbecile’ – but who will be the next James Bond?

“Bond has become part of brand-Britain,” Martin D Brown a Professor at Richmond The American International University in London said in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk.

“But he has a Britishness everyone can associate with, it’s inclusive rather than exclusive and that’s what makes him so globally popular.”

Despite being so intrinsic to British culture, Bond as a character and a franchise for coming across a bit dated – particularly with attitudes to women and race.

As Hollywood moves forward with long overdue diversity on screen, many fans and critiques of the Bond franchise are calling for 007 to be brought up to date.

But Brown doubts Bond himself will change much, even as the world around him slowly moves into the 21st century.

So far, needless to say, Bond has always been a white man.

“There’s a variety of different aspects to Bond that have to do with his adaptability unrelated to changing Bond’s gender or race,” Brown said.

“It may well happen but the answer to where it will go next is probably not looking at the gender or race aspect.

“Bond is not really up to date and could be updated more, but there’s always been a lot of dynamic and change in terms of gender class and society that’s constantly evolving, but the constant is the idea of Bond being Bond.”

But who is Bond? “He’s a cultural imbecile, he seems to have no appreciation of anything apart from fine wine and food which on its own is great but we don’t know what he thinks of architecture or music or film or literature.”

So Bond is, in some ways, a blank slate. 

007 website confirmed Danny Boyle would direct the next James Bond movie, with a UK release date set for October 25, 2019.

The incumbent James Bond Daniel Craig still has one more movie to go, with filming expected to start in December.

But while a release date is a good 18 months away, fans are already thinking ahead to Mr Craig’s replacement.

Both James Norton and Tom Hardy have been the joint favourites for some time, but now the McMafia star has taken the lead.

Idris Elba has been backed into 8/1 in the last week or so, which could cause a stir given Professor Brown’s comments.

While ANY female is a 12/1 shot – so time will tell who will fill Daniel Craig’s shoes.

Latest odds from Ladbrokes:

James Norton – 3/1

Tom Hardy – 3/1

Aidan Turner – 6/1

Jack Huston – 6/1

Cillian Murphy – 8/1

Idris Elba – 8/1

Any Female – 12/1

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: “It’s wide open as far as we’re concerned in the Bond betting.

“We’ve taken notable amounts on Idris Elba over the last week or so, while ‘Any Female’ has been well-backed in the last six months. The betting suggests producers are considering a whole host of options. “