While Hollywood has been more open towards “genderbending” iconic characters, it seems like the James Bond franchise has no such plans.

During a recent interview with Guardian, James Bond executive producer Barbara Broccoli talked about the future possibility of Bond being played by a female one day.

“Bond is male,” Broccoli said. “He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male.”

“And that’s fine,” Broccoli added. “We don’t have to turn male characters into women. Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters.”

The James Bond franchise looks far from being a feminist franchise since Bond is himself a womaniser and the films routinely kill female characters as a way to give Bond another reason to go after the villains. However, Broccoli did add that the franchise has evolved a lot with time.

“Look at the way the world has changed,” Broccoli said. “And I think Bond has come through and transformed with the times. I’ve tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, they’ve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed.”

Making Dame Judi Dench’s “M”, the head of MI5 was one of the biggest decisions taken by the franchise. Dench soon rose to become a hallmark of Bond films, appearing in a total of eight films, and her backstory was explored in 2012’s Skyfall. “M” is often taken as a female character whom Bond could neither seduce nor outwit, making her a direct contrast to other Bond women in the franchise.

Although Broccoli has no plans of turning Bond into a woman anytime soon, the producer does plan to include a female screenwriter or director.

“Yes, absolutely,” said Broccoli. “As a female producer, of course, I’d like to do that.”

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