Can We Have Some Skyfall Gadgets Please, Mr Bond?


Great news: the 23rd James Bond film now has a title: Skyfall. Even better, we know it will be out before Christmas next year. There’s just one more thing we need: a bevy of gadgets.

Photo by Stuart Wilson/Getty Images

One of the major changes that came into the Bond franchise when Daniel Craig took over the role was a de-emphasis on cool and clever gadgets. In Craig’s two films to date, there has been no appearance by gadget-master Q. Yes, in part that’s because the producers were aiming for a less jokey, more Bourne-like tone. And in part it’s because Desmond Llewellyn, the original Q, died in 1999 (though John Cleese had already been lined up to take over as Q and did so in Die Another Day in 2002).

It’s not that I necessarily want to see a return to Q saying “Do try and be careful this time, 007”. (Well, maybe I do a little.) It’s more that we all have access to impressively great gadgets these days, so it seems ridiculous not to have a few of them littered around the Bond universe. I don’t want dodgy product placement, with Bond using Siri to remotely activate a secret volcano bomb. I want something awesome and unlikely that I can dream about.

On the face of it, this still seems unlikely, since Skyfall is being directed by Sam Mendes, whose previous movies (American Beauty, Jarhead) don’t exactly suggest he’ll be a technology fiend. But we can live in hope, can’t we?