While recasting the lead actor always signals a change in creative direction, a sense of continuity remains with a familiar M, Q, or Moneypenny. No, every franchise outing has included at least one supporting character who persists from a previous incarnation of James Bond. No other James Bond film has reset its entire slate of characters at once.
If Bond 26 does intend to truly wipe the slate clean, it’s setting itself up for an unprecedented challenge. That movie pulled off a difficult feat by organically introducing Q, Moneypenny, and Ralph Fiennes’s M, completing the slate of familiar James Bond characters, but Q actor Ben Whishaw expects Bond 26 to “ wipe the slate clean and start again.” Not only is the series unable to bring back Dench’s M, who lost her life in Skyfall. However, Bond 26 likely won’t be able to pull the same trick to ease its transition. The very different tone of Casino Royale is anchored by Dench’s M, a known quantity who reassures the viewer that they’re still watching a Bond they know, one who finds himself upbraided by his sharp-tongued female superior.
