So says GoldenEye and Casino Royale director Martin Campbell, according to ScreenRant.  I couldn’t disagree more, and I have to wonder whether he’s fully reckoned with the ending of No Time To Die.  Bond’s death is too significant a narrative rupture to simply gloss over, and the most coherent way forward is, frankly, a clean reboot.

To be clear, I have enormous respect for Campbell as he revitalized the franchise twice, each time steering Bond out of a creative downturn and into a new era.  If anyone has the standing to comment on where the series goes next, it’s him. But his “don’t f–k with it” advice to Denis Villeneuve lands somewhat ironically, considering the franchise has already been fundamentally altered. The Craig era concluded by crossing a line no Bond film had ever approached, and that choice demands a structural response, not a narrative sidestep.