86 replies to this topic

[AMC Hornet]

In QoS there was Brendan O'Hea as that young boffin in the tweed jacket who bustled around M and Tanner like a loyal puppy as they stalked into the hi-tech briefing room. He explained about the tagged money showing up in Haiti in exactly the manner others have described here: introducing the "gee whiz" technology for the lay persons in a slightly befuddled way.

Bring him back, and give him a name - Goeffrey, for starters, top brain of Q Branch. He can be in charge in B24, and inherit the letter title.

Problem solved.

[George88]

That's a nice idea. It doesn't have to be someone famous (could be hugely distracting - it's John Cleese, not Q, in the films he's in).

[AMC Hornet]

Exactly - B&W can just hope that Brendan doesn't become a superstar between films, so that they can afford to keep using him. Making M the series costar has been distracting enough.

[007jamesbond]

In his credit for QOS, he was credited as forensic tech..I guess that could work and dont need to waste time to find a actor to play Q or the Major

[PPK_19]

Exactly - B&W can just hope that Brendan doesn't become a superstar between films, so that they can afford to keep using him. Making M the series costar has been distracting enough.

Nonsense.

[DaveBond21]

That's a nice idea. It doesn't have to be someone famous (could be hugely distracting - it's John Cleese, not Q, in the films he's in).

Exactly. I always think of that guy as Q. Same with the guy who puts the chip in Bond's arm in CR. To me, they were both potentially heads of Q Branch.


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[AMC Hornet]

Mr. Moustache with the "ow" gun was nobody - just a Q branch flunky (as was Brendan O'Hea, but there was something I liked about him - perhaps it was the fact that he actually had a line or two). When a full cast list is announced, I'll be watching for him.

...or for someone like him, anyway ...

[Guy Haines]

How about normal guy no funny quips or jokes just gives bond the gadgets that are called no need for any sort of "angle"

Uh, because if they're reintroducing the character, then Q actually needs to be a character.

When Desmond Llewellyn was in the role, there was an "angle", as you put it. Despite Bond's utter disdain for his equipment and Q's frequent admonishment that Bond needed to grow up, they were obviously friends. Kind of like House and Wilson in HOUSE, though more subtle.

When John Cleese was in the role, there was once again an "angle". He was a younger version of Desmond Llewellyn's Q, someone who clearly had no respect for Bond and his antics. He was very proper and very fussy, but as Q excelled himself (even Bond was astonished at the invisible car), they began to form a grudging respect for one another.

So whoever becomes the next Q, there will obviously be characterisation at hand.

Desmond Llewelyn's Q did not start out as a "character", however. Look at the scene in FRWL when he explains the attache case to Bond - no gags, no "Grow up 007" lines, just a matter-of-fact run through of how the case works. "Q" only started to develop as a personality in GF, and even then he was mostly all business, with just an element of tetchiness, as 007 showed scant respect for his work. It was really only in the later films that "Q" became the "much loved character" audiences had come to expect.

As it happens, I think it is a pity John Cleese didn't continue into a second Bond film, although I'm not sure how his approach would work with Craig's Bond. But had Brosnan appeared in a fifth Bond film, Cleese as Q would have worked well - Llewelyn's "uncle with gadgets" replaced by Cleese's prep school teacher type, aiming sarcasm at a particularly unruly pupil named Bond.

Regarding a new Q - a return to Llewelyn the "very-early-years", or a different characterisation altogether is what I would look for in whoever might play the role. Bringing in a new actor as "Q" and then expecting him (her?) to simply take up where Messrs. Llewelyn and Cleese left off would not, I think, work with Daniel Craig as Bond.

[Captain Tightpants]

Desmond Llewelyn's Q did not start out as a "character", however. Look at the scene in FRWL when he explains the attache case to Bond - no gags, no "Grow up 007" lines, just a matter-of-fact run through of how the case works. "Q" only started to develop as a personality in GF, and even then he was mostly all business, with just an element of tetchiness, as 007 showed scant respect for his work. It was really only in the later films that "Q" became the "much loved character" audiences had come to expect.

True as that might be, if Q is to be reintroduced, the producers will no doubt look at reintroducing him for the long term. No doubt they will have some idea of the direction they want him to take in the future.

[Guy Haines]

Desmond Llewelyn's Q did not start out as a "character", however. Look at the scene in FRWL when he explains the attache case to Bond - no gags, no "Grow up 007" lines, just a matter-of-fact run through of how the case works. "Q" only started to develop as a personality in GF, and even then he was mostly all business, with just an element of tetchiness, as 007 showed scant respect for his work. It was really only in the later films that "Q" became the "much loved character" audiences had come to expect.

True as that might be, if Q is to be reintroduced, the producers will no doubt look at reintroducing him for the long term. No doubt they will have some idea of the direction they want him to take in the future.

Indeed. There would be little point in re-introducing a character like Q only to discard him, or her, after one or two movies. I expect the film makers do have some idea of what kind of Q they want. It just might not necessarily be the much loved gadget master of the pre-Craig films - I think they will be looking for a characterisation that fits the direction the films have taken since 2006. A new actor merely doing a characature of Llewelyn's later portrayal of Q, or Cleese's version would seem, to me, to not quite fit in with Craig's take on Bond.

[Captain Tightpants]

It just might not necessarily be the much loved gadget master of the pre-Craig films

I honestly hope he isn't. I'd rather the character be presented as his own character, rather than smoeone playing Desmond Llewellyn.

[DaveBond21]

Desmond Llewelyn's Q did not start out as a "character", however. Look at the scene in FRWL when he explains the attache case to Bond - no gags, no "Grow up 007" lines, just a matter-of-fact run through of how the case works. "Q" only started to develop as a personality in GF, and even then he was mostly all business, with just an element of tetchiness, as 007 showed scant respect for his work. It was really only in the later films that "Q" became the "much loved character" audiences had come to expect.

True as that might be, if Q is to be reintroduced, the producers will no doubt look at reintroducing him for the long term. No doubt they will have some idea of the direction they want him to take in the future.

Indeed. There would be little point in re-introducing a character like Q only to discard him, or her, after one or two movies. I expect the film makers do have some idea of what kind of Q they want. It just might not necessarily be the much loved gadget master of the pre-Craig films - I think they will be looking for a characterisation that fits the direction the films have taken since 2006. A new actor merely doing a characature of Llewelyn's later portrayal of Q, or Cleese's version would seem, to me, to not quite fit in with Craig's take on Bond.

Actually, I think it would fit in with Craig's Bond, in the way that Bond's interchange with Mendel worked out well in CR.


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[Righty007]

I have a feeling Ben Whishaw is Q.

[Pussfeller]

I agree. He was one of the actors whose characters were pointedly left unnamed, along with Finney and Fiennes. If he isn't playing Q, then I don't see why they wouldn't name his character. Unless he's playing Mr. Moneypenny.

[sharpshooter]

I have a feeling Ben Whishaw is Q.

Yeah, I think this could be the case. And if they cast a young guy, he can have the role for a long time. Become a regular.

[Righty007]

I agree. He was one of the actors whose characters were pointedly left unnamed, along with Finney and Fiennes. If he isn't playing Q, then I don't see why they wouldn't name his character. Unless he's playing Mr. Moneypenny.

Good point. Also, in the 21st century, it's more believable to have Q be a brilliant, young engineer rather than a crusty, old military man. No offense to Desmond Llewelyn!

[Royal Dalton]

Probably. We shall see.

[Vauxhall]

I have a feeling Ben Whishaw is Q.

I concur. I've had that feeling ever since he was mentioned in connection with the movie.

[Skudor]

I have a feeling Ben Whishaw is Q.

I concur. I've had that feeling ever since he was mentioned in connection with the movie.

It's seeming likely.

[Righty007]

I have a feeling Ben Whishaw is Q.

Spoiler alert: I was right.

[Dustin]

Congrats!

[Skudor]

I have a feeling Ben Whishaw is Q.

I concur. I've had that feeling ever since he was mentioned in connection with the movie.

It's seeming likely.

And me - the foot that was on the BW = Q side of the fence was right!

[Single-O-Seven]

Now the question in, will Q have an introduction and meet Bond for the first time? Or will he just "pop in" like Tanner, in a manner that suggests he and Bond are already acquainted? I'm guessing the former, as the character is quite iconic, and there will be a "need" to introduce (or re-introduce) him to audiences.

[Pussfeller]

Even if he's new to Bond, they could just introduce him as "the new quartermaster" and leave it at that. Later on, Bond could call him Q, or refer to Q branch, or whatever, and it would be obvious that he's just abbreviating the man's official title. I find it difficult to imagine a non-silly way of explicitly introducing a character by his nickname.

"007, I don't think you're acquainted with our quirky new quartermaster, Quentin Quayle from Queensferry in Quent. We're in quite a quandary over the question of what to quall him. You're quick with a quip. Have you any qualms about bequeathing a quaint sobriquet?"

[Single-O-Seven]

Even if he's new to Bond, they could just introduce him as "the new quartermaster" and leave it at that. Later on, Bond could call him Q, or refer to Q branch, or whatever, and it would be obvious that he's just abbreviating the man's official title. I find it difficult to imagine a non-silly way of explicitly introducing a character by his nickname.

"007, I don't think you're acquainted with our quirky new quartermaster, Quentin Quayle from Queensferry in Quent. We're in quite a quandary over the question of what to quall him. You're quick with a quip. Have you any qualms about bequeathing a quaint sobriquet?"

If that bit of dialogue isn't in the film, I'll be very disappointed.

[Mercator]

Even if he's new to Bond, they could just introduce him as "the new quartermaster" and leave it at that. Later on, Bond could call him Q, or refer to Q branch, or whatever, and it would be obvious that he's just abbreviating the man's official title. I find it difficult to imagine a non-silly way of explicitly introducing a character by his nickname.

"007, I don't think you're acquainted with our quirky new quartermaster, Quentin Quayle from Queensferry in Quent. We're in quite a quandary over the question of what to quall him. You're quick with a quip. Have you any qualms about bequeathing a quaint sobriquet?"

If that bit of dialogue isn't in the film, I'll be very disappointed.

Me also. I quiet agree.

Edited by Mercator, 26 November 2011 - 10:21 AM.

[Thevan7F]

He already returned. He will be played by BEN Whishaw

[DamnCoffee]

We know...