There is no doubt about it, the topic of a female Bond character is a controversial topic among the movie franchise's loyal fans – cue a grumbled, 'Ugh, he's called James Bond, not Jane Bond'. But there is one high profile advocate of a female Bond, Pierce Brosnan, who played the world's most famous spy from 1994 until 2005.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, when asked about the prospect of a female Bond during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I think we've watched the guys do it for the last 40 years. Get out of the way, guys, and put a woman up there. I think it would be exhilarating, it would be exciting."
It has been rumoured that Lashana Lynch will be taking over as 007 after Daniel Craig's final outing as Bond in No Time to Die.
Brosnan, however, is sceptical that we'll see a female Bond under Barbara Broccoli, the current producer and daughter of original producer, Albert R 'Cubby' Broccoli.
“I don't think that's going to happen with the Broccolis. I don't think that is going to happen under their watch," he added.
British writer and actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge has been hired to shape the script of the 25th instalment of Bond.
"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," the Fleabag writer told Deadline. "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.”
This is sentiment echoed by Brosnan in his THR interview when asked if the character has to modernise for the #MeToo era.
“Without question, yes ... The #MeToo movement has been relevant and significant and well needed in our society, so they'll have to address that,” he said.
Barbara Broccoli has dismissed past suggestions to cast a female Bond.
"I always feel that Bond is a male character, that is just a fact," Barbara Broccoli told Good Morning Britain during an interview in April this year. "We have to make movies about women and women's stories but we have to create female characters and not just for a gimmick turn a male character into a woman."