James Bond’s new Q is Ben Whishaw

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In the third Bond outing with Daniel Craig, we’ll finally get us some Q action. Ben Whishaw has been cast as James Bond’s gadget man for Skyfall. Whishaw’s previous credits include Perfume, The Tempest, Brideshead Revisited, and Layer Cake (Daniel Craig’s breakthrough role). “Whishaw” was also the sound I made when playing Bruce Lee as a kid — whishaw!

The character Q is most closely associated with Desmond Llewelyn, who appeared in 17 Bond movies until his death in 1999. John Cleese would play Q’s assistant R in The World is Not Enough and then Q’s replacement in Die Another Day, the latter being the rare case in which I preferred someone else to John Cleese. Some of my favorite moments in Bond movies have been the Q Branch scenes, and I’ll be interested to see what this rebooted Bond’s take is on cool gadgets and stuff getting blowed up real good.

After the jump, I’ve included the tribute to Desmond Llewelyn that appeared on the DVD for The World is Not Enough, his final film appearance. Haven’t seen this in ages, but it’s a mighty fine watch.

[Via BBC]

Tribute to Q Ultimate Edition

Hubert Vigilla
Brooklyn-based fiction writer, film critic, and long-time editor and contributor for Flixist. A booster of all things passionate and idiosyncratic.