Retroactive continuity should be avoided in the world of James Bond after the attempt at using one for Bond’s familial history fell flat in Spectre. It’s not that I’m against learning about Bond’s origins, it’s just that I don’t enjoy an entire plot element dictated to us with no prior history to support it as a narrative.

If Bond 26 is not an origin story, it will automatically be a retcon, since the modern Bond died at the end of the last movie, No Time To Die. They backed themselves into a corner with Bond 26, and anything aside from an origin story will be insulting to Bond fans in my opinion. I’m also not sure, outside of an origin story, how they’d get back into the familiar and convenient floating timelines that has persisted in James Bond movies since the start. They really need to reboot, and anything short of a fresh start would be challenging to digest.