Film This is no time to die (No Time to Die) from 2021, the latest installment in the 007 series, ended with the recognizable message: "James Bond will return."
However, in recent years, fans of the MI6 agent have not been so sure.
A year after the release of the last film about the most famous spy played by Daniel Craig, the American multinational technology company Amazon bought the franchise's parent company, MGM, and little has happened since then.
But on February 20, Amazon announced a new joint venture that will not feature longtime Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, with Jeff Bezos' company taking full control over creative decisions in the franchise.
Over the past few years, there has been much-reported tension between Amazon, which understandably wanted to make a return on its investment, and Wilson and Broccoli, whose top priority was to protect the James Bond brand.
News of the deal has caused mixed reactions from 007 fans.
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"I have mixed feelings," says David Zaricki, creator of The Bond Experience fan channels on YouTube and Instagram.
"The nostalgic part of me feels a slight sadness."
"Broccoli and Wilson have been the guardians of this series for years, so it feels like part of the royal lineage has been cut."
"On the other hand, no one likes inactivity."
"And there's been nothing happening with the James Bond franchise for a long time, and I know that Amazon as a company will have no patience for inactivity."
"That's why I'm very optimistic, and I dare say even a little excited, because I believe they're going to do something interesting."
Other franchises that have drastically expanded their universe may offer some clues about what we can expect from the upcoming Bond era under Amazon's leadership.
Lancelot Narayan, a James Bond film historian, journalist and filmmaker, told BBC Radio 5 Live that a good parallel could be drawn with the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, which gave the company control of the American franchise. Star Wars (Star Wars).
"They immediately made a trilogy of sequels, and whether you like it or not, the films were made pretty quickly," he notes.
"There wasn't a three-year break between films."
However, despite the sudden increase in productivity, there is a sense that both Marvel Studios and Star Wars too diffuse in their spinoff projects.
Narayan believes that Star Wars has since "run out of creative steam."
"The TV series from that universe are of very uneven quality - Andor is fantastic, The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian) is okay, Skeleton Crew "I haven't watched it... but there are too many different creative voices out there," he notes.
"That's the problem, you have to have true creatives leading the entire project."
Similarly, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded with a series of series on the Disney+ platform.
It is believed that Marvel's popularity later declined largely due to fan saturation, as they had to keep up with the huge number of stories.
Both Marvel and Star Wars point to the risks of over-expanding a brand, which can cause long-term harm for the sake of short-term financial gain.
Fans hope any expansion of the Bond universe will be better than the infamous reality show. 007: Road to a Million from 2023, hosted by Brian Cox, star of the TV series Heirs (Succession), which received poor reviews.
The James Bond franchise, and in particular the question of which actor will succeed Craig, has intrigued the public so much that it has become the subject of a new play. A Role To Die For, which is currently being performed at a theater in the town of Cirencester, England.
"There are a lot of people who grew up with Bond, for whom he's been a part of the culture their whole lives," says the play's director, Derek Bond.
"As time passed, the ability to reinvent the character and adapt it to contemporary trends was the secret to its longevity."
"But I wonder if we're now in a situation where times have changed so much that Bond seems like a character from another era, and that it takes something really radical to make him relevant today."
Stories about the creation of characters
One possibility that Amazon will almost certainly consider now that it has full creative control is the potential for origin films, along the lines of other famous movie heroes who have had spinoff films made about them.
Spoon (Creulla), based on the film 101 Dalmatians, Outside (Wonka), a story about a character from the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), have achieved enormous success in the last five years, thanks to Emma Stone and Timothée Chalamet who introduced those worlds to new audiences.
It is not difficult to imagine the popularity of a similar film or series about iconic Bond villains such as Jaws, Ojob (Oddjob), Blofeld, Goldfinger, or May Day, because they have all become brands in their own right.
"I mean, why hasn't anyone made a movie about Miss Moneypenny yet?!" Derek Bond says with a laugh.
"It could be a great series about her and her career in MI6."
"The same goes for M - I'd love to know how Judi Dench's M got to that position."
"And the villains in particular, it's such a rich universe that it's easy to imagine every character Bond has ever met on his journey getting their own spinoff."
However, Zaricki adds: “I don't think Amazon will go to absurd extremes and make a series about a janitor at MI6 who sleeps in the corner.
"If they do spinoffs, they'll focus on the main characters."
However, not everyone is enthusiastic about this idea.
"This is probably the WORST thing that could happen to this franchise," Griffin Schiller, host of the YouTube channel Film Speak, tweeted on Xu, reacting to Amazon's announcement of the new deal.
"James Bond was more than just a franchise.
"It had class, prestige, these were independent (indie) films made as blockbusters... and now? It's going to be squeezed to the limit."
"This is truly the end."
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Throughout her career in the James Bond franchise, Barbara Broccoli was considered a brand keeper who protected the traditions of the original character.
This may not be entirely in line with Amazon's plans, as they likely wanted to buy the entire brand, not just the film franchise, to ensure maximum profit.
"The Bond world tends to appeal to an older audience, and there's a whole generation of people who have never experienced a Bond film, and now I wonder if they'll ever have that opportunity," says Derek Bond.
However, throughout her career in the franchise, Broccoli attempted to appeal to younger audiences in other ways, choosing popular young artists, such as Billie Eilish, to perform the film's musical themes.
Rebranding the franchise could mean that Amazon will try to target Bond towards a younger audience, as well as towards the American market, which is culturally less warm to the British spy than audiences in the United Kingdom (UK).
"I think this is pretty bad news for the franchise, but also for British film as a whole," film journalist Hannah Strong told BBC Radio 4 after Amazon's announcement.
"James Bond is a leading British film brand, and I think it's concerning that control is being transferred to an American company, especially one that hasn't had a particularly good track record of supporting top-notch filmmaking."
On the other hand, Amazon is surely aware that Bond is already generating huge profits, and that it would be very risky to fundamentally change the product to make it more appealing to American audiences.
"When Amazon bought MGM, Barbara Broccoli was quite outspoken about how difficult it was for her to reach a compromise with Amazon," Strong says.
"I think that compromise involves a huge amount of money."
The biggest question is who will succeed Craig.
Broccoli previously stated that James Bond could be of any race, but that he would remain a male character.
However, as she has handed over the helm, that may no longer be guaranteed, although her approach was widely accepted as sensible, and Amazon likely won't want to rock the boat too much.
When can we expect a new Bond project?
Zaricki believes Amazon won't wait too long, but that the next Bond project may not be a film.
"They could offer a product or create some kind of interaction with fans," he says.
"Whatever it is, I think it will happen very soon."
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