A lot is still up in the air for the James Bond franchise after Amazon MGM Studios bought the rights, but some matters are firm.

If there’s one franchise that’s currently in WTF status, it’s James Bond. Following Amazon MGM Studios’ purchase of the 007 series, the future of James Bond is as murky as it comes. And while it will no doubt be quite some time until we hear anything official on the next outing, there is at least some discussion as to what we can expect: Bond will remain James, not Jane.

According to reports, the possibility that James Bond could be turned into a female is officially off the table. As these reports go, 007 will continue to be a man and also from Britain or the Commonwealth. Per MovieWeb, “There have been so many erroneous rumors about the future of Bond. Amazon is committed to keeping the spirit of Bond alive and that means he has to be British or from the Commonwealth – and he has to be male.”

Certainly this particular news will be well received by James Bond fans, as rumors that 007 could be made into a female in future movies were popping up all over the place over the past few years. By and large, however, fans have been actively against the idea, while those involved with the series in some capacity have also expressed their disapproval. For example, the most recent Bond retiree, Daniel Craig, said that there’s no reason for the spy to be made female considering an equally well-written part could be designed specifically for a woman. This sentiment was echoed by Jenna Ortega, who may not have a direct link to James Bond but sees it completely unnecessary to do a gender swap, reflecting fan thoughts.

While the matter of the makeup of James Bond might be mostly cleared up, there is still a lot that we don’t know. But we are learning more about how the deal between Amazon MGM Studios and Barbara Broccoli / Michael G. Wilson came about, with reports emerging that Jeff Bezos may have been most interested in purchasing the rights as an ego-tripping power move against Broccoli after she made an apparent slight against Amazon. Such fragile egos on these billionaires…

What do you think of the news on James Bond? Are you surprised at all or was this expected?