Status TV has redefined spy thrillers. If Bond doesn’t evolve, the very best espionage tales will occur with out him.
Just lately, I watched The Company, a remake of a French spy sequence starring Michael Fassbender. Streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime’s premium tier, it hooked me so fully that I really paid further simply to complete watching after a free preview on Youtube—one thing I nearly by no means do, since I’m continuously on the lookout for an excuse to cancel streaming providers as a result of their shallow content material libraries.
It proves how long-form storytelling elevates espionage narratives—giving missions time to unfold and characters house to develop in methods a single movie by no means may. These aren’t simply motion sequences stitched collectively. They’re strategic, psychological, and relentless.
One of many best strengths of The Company is its dedication to slow-burning pressure, meticulous spycraft, and layered deception. The sequence follows intelligence brokers navigating an intricate internet of rivalries and betrayals, the place operations unfold over weeks, not hours. Watching it, I stored pondering: why hasn’t Bond gotten this therapy?
It got here on the heels of watching The Day of the Jackal final fall, starring Eddie Redmayne, which had already set the gears turning. Like The Company, it bolstered the concept status TV isn’t simply one other format for spy tales. It’s the very best one.
The Mission: Not possible Issue
The Mission: Not possible franchise proves that episodic, action-driven spy adventures can nonetheless carry emotional weight, whereas The Company excels at grounded psychological complexity and long-term penalties.
Bond movies have all the time blended globe-trotting journey with espionage intrigue, however squeezing each right into a two-hour runtime forces compromises. The motion set items don’t construct with the rising depth of Mission: Not possible‘s stunt-based circus, whereas the spycraft lacks the suspense depth that status dramas can discover over a number of hours.
Bond has the chance to be the largest and name-worthy espionage sequence potential. It wouldn’t compete with the movies. It might deepen the franchise.
The place Bond Movies Succeed—And The place They Fall Brief
Bond movies invented the artwork of glossy, cinematic spy spectacle. The Shanghai combat sequence in Skyfall, the practice brawl in On line casino Royale, the Mexico Metropolis monitoring shot in Spectre—every a showcase of motion crafted with precision and elegance. The issue isn’t execution. It’s format. A two-hour movie forces Bond to juggle explosive set items and espionage intrigue.
Bond’s tradecraft—the deep-cover assignments, shifting allegiances, and psychological toll—will get lowered to fast montages earlier than the subsequent explosion. A two-hour blockbuster doesn’t have the house for a slow-burning unraveling. That’s the place a sequence has the benefit.
One in every of The Company’s strongest storylines follows an intelligence officer extracted from deep cowl, solely to have his previous come crashing into his current. The reappearance of a girl with whom he shared a fabricated romance—a relationship that was actual for her however a mission for him—sparks an against-protocol affair. What ought to have been knowledgeable severance spirals right into a disaster of allegiance, together with his personal company questioning whether or not he’s compromised.
That is the sort of inner battle Bond has all the time had the potential for however not often explores with depth. Think about a Bond sequence that begins with 007 coming back from years undercover, struggling to reacclimate to London—after which operating into somebody from his previous life, somebody he was by no means speculated to see once more. A movie can contact on this. As The Company proves, a ten-episode sequence may reside in it.
However a long-form Bond sequence wouldn’t must lean solely into psychological weight and brooding pressure. Status TV has already confirmed it might deal with espionage storytelling with out shedding persona.
A fantastic instance is Black Doves, starring Ben Whishaw—acquainted to Bond followers as Q within the Craig period. Not like the psychological weight of The Company or the bureaucratic cynicism of Sluggish Horses, Black Doves balances espionage intrigue with sharp writing, humor, and persona. What stunned me most was how a lot actual depth it packed into its plot, character growth, and supreme decision, notably given its tone. It by no means felt light-weight or inconsequential, even with its playfulness.
That’s precisely what a Bond sequence may do. Bond has all the time thrived on that steadiness—lethal critical when it must be, however by no means joyless. A status TV sequence wouldn’t must mimic the tone of The Company of The Day of the Jackal precisely; it may weave within the sharp dialogue, dry humor, and easy cool that outline Bond at his greatest, whereas nonetheless delivering significant character arcs and weighty espionage storytelling.
That blend of intelligence, pressure, and psychological complexity is one thing the Bond novels have all the time understood higher than the movies.
From Russia with Love spends its opening chapters detailing SMERSH’s assassination plot, growing Purple Grant’s backstory, and establishing Bond’s downfall earlier than he even seems. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service lingers on Bond’s deep-cover id as genealogist Sir Hilary Bray, emphasizing the sluggish realization that Blofeld is forward of him. Fleming additionally explores Bond’s emotional value—On line casino Royale reveals him questioning his humanity after torture, and From Russia with Love leaves him bodily and psychologically wrecked.
These layers within the movies, usually compressed to a mere nod, or omitted solely, would thrive in a status TV sequence, permitting the viewers to take a seat with the stress, deception, and psychological weight that outline Bond on the web page.
The Villain Downside
A fantastic villain doesn’t simply threaten Bond. They hang-out him.
Bond villains are constructed to burn vivid and quick—massive monologues, grandiose plans, then demise.
The Day of the Jackal takes the alternative strategy. We don’t simply hear that the murderer is a grasp of deception—we watch him construct false identities, set up secure homes, manipulate contacts, and keep one step forward of regulation enforcement throughout a number of episodes. The stress isn’t simply in whether or not he’ll succeed—it’s in how a lot injury he’ll do earlier than they’ll cease him.
A Bond sequence may introduce a villain who isn’t simply an impediment. Somebody Bond can’t outgun in two hours however should outthink over a whole season. Over time, this villain wouldn’t simply threaten Bond; they might corrode him, forcing MI6—and the viewers, as The Company does—to query his loyalty, his judgment, even his sanity.
Bond motion pictures have pulled this off in flashes—Le Chiffre’s poker sport in On line casino Royale constructed stakes masterfully—however a status TV sequence may permit for a very methodical, devastating antagonist. Status TV villains don’t simply threaten the hero; they dismantle him piece by piece.
MI6: Extra Than Only a Mission Hub
MI6 in Bond movies is a backdrop for exposition, not a battleground. However in a sequence, it might be an influence battle—rival spies, bureaucratic warfare, and missions formed as a lot by inner conflicts as exterior threats.
The Company, Jackal, and Sluggish Horses get this proper. Intelligence work isn’t nearly discipline brokers; it’s about political maneuvering, shifting alliances, and the fallout of unseen selections. The Company, specifically, reveals how espionage on the highest ranges is constructed on each belief and deception—not simply towards adversaries, however inside the group itself. MI6 ought to really feel like a residing entity, pushed by profession operatives with their very own agendas.
A Bond sequence may lastly present MI6 as greater than a spot the place M yells at Bond earlier than handing him a brand new goal. Think about a division the place rival factions push conflicting intelligence, the place analysts resent discipline brokers, the place the politics of espionage matter as a lot because the missions themselves. A world the place MI6 isn’t simply reacting to international threats—it’s shaping them.
If Sluggish Horses could make a whole present about MI5’s misfits and screw-ups, think about what a Bond sequence may do with MI6’s elite.
A single movie can’t construct stakes that final. A Bond sequence would.
Lengthy-form storytelling permits victories and losses to matter. The Penguin thrives on fallout—betrayals reshape alliances, energy struggles shift the board, and no motion goes with out consequence. It proves that even a once-dismissed caricature can anchor a gripping, layered story—arguably higher than the high-budget, status Joker movie, which nonetheless handled its lead as a psychological case research slightly than a real energy participant.
A Bond sequence may do the identical for characters who’ve spent many years trapped in inflexible archetypes. Think about a model of M, Q, or Moneypenny with full-season arcs, formed by their very own ambitions, rivalries, and previous errors. Think about a Bond woman given the narrative weight of a totally realized character slightly than a fleeting love curiosity. Think about villains who don’t simply threaten Bond for 2 hours however have compelling motivations.
A status sequence wouldn’t simply deepen Bond’s world—it might lastly let the individuals round him matter.
Bond motion pictures have touched on this—Skyfall explored M’s previous, On line casino Royale made Vesper’s demise hit exhausting—however the format doesn’t let these penalties linger. Quantum of Solace rushed by way of Bond’s grief. No Time to Die killed off Felix Leiter, however his loss barely registered earlier than the subsequent motion sequence.
Think about absolutely developed characters dying on missions gaining the intel Bond in the end makes use of in his personal. Think about a season the place each mission builds towards an intelligence battle that forces MI6 into uneasy alliances, pitting double brokers towards one another whereas the road between ally and enemy blurs. Think about multi-episode arcs targeted solely on the aftermath of a botched mission, the place Bond isn’t simply searching down a villain—he’s coping with the explored fallout of his personal errors.
These are stakes that may’t be in-built a single movie. A Bond sequence would change that.
Is a Status Bond Collection a Excessive Stakes Mission?
There are dangers, after all. Mishandle a Bond sequence, and the model weakens. Casting presents one other problem—ought to the identical actor play Bond in each mediums? (Craig’s feedback on the rigor and time of movie manufacturing recommend that’s unlikely.) Would audiences embrace a long-form Bond or dismiss it as a demotion or redundant?
However The Penguin proved one thing important. It didn’t simply inform an amazing story; it expanded the Batman universe with out diminishing the movies. It confirmed how long-form storytelling can add depth slightly than distraction. Bond deserves the identical therapy.
And status TV has already rewritten the foundations for espionage. The Company, The Day of The Jackal, The Evening Supervisor, Black Doves and Sluggish Horses show that long-form storytelling isn’t simply good for spy thrillers—it’s now one of the best ways to inform them.
And the very best half?
The movies don’t must cease.
Let the sequence deal with the depth.
Let the movies keep explosive.
That’s how Bond stays forward of the spy sport—by enjoying the lengthy one.▪
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