Ask anyone to describe a James Bond movie poster, and they'll probably tell you it features James Bond posing with a gun. Like chalk and cheese, salt and pepper and, er, Rosie and Jim, Bond and his Walther PPK are two things that go together. The 007 logo even features a gun, for goodness sake. So it's unsurprising that Amazon's recent decision to airbrush the weapons from all 25 Bond posters has gone down like a lead balloon.
Yesterday, on Global James Bond Day, no less, Amazon (who, worryingly, now owns the rights to the franchise), took the liberty of disarming 007 in a series of appallingly botched thumbnail images on Prime Video, presumably in an attempt to make them look more family-friendly.
The images of James Bond with his gun hand badly edited into folded arms or clenched fists have naturally been met with accusations of wokery. "Bond without his gun is like Batman without his cape — you’ve stripped away the very symbol of who he is," one X user laments. Meanwhile, on Reddit, users wonder whether violent words will be scrubbed from the titles next: "I can't wait to watch Tomorrow Never Passes Away Peacefully Surrounded By Its Loved Ones."
Oh, and that 007 logo that I mentioned features a gun? Not anymore – Amazon has decided to crop it, removing the visual pun that makes the whole thing so iconic.
But aside from the perceived blasphemy, there's also the fact that this is just really, really bad Photoshop. One of the worst offenders is the cover for Goldeneye, in which Pierce Brosnan appears to be preparing to make a 'wanker' gesture at the photographer.
Thankfully, Amazon quietly reversed the update after less than 24 hours. But the truly worrying thing is that Amazon, having taken over control of the franchise, is officially the steward of James Bond. If these are the kind of creative decisions it's going to make, then I have serious concerns about 007's future.
