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A well-known James Bond character may have just subtly come out as LGBTQ+ during a brief moment in No Time to Die.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for No Time To Die, now in theaters.
Daniel Craig’s swan song appearance as the iconic MI6 agent James Bond in No Time to Die features the return of many fan-favorite characters. One of these characters may have subtly revealed that they are LGBTQ+, though the moment is quick and does leave room for interpretation. Bond has been off the grid for several years before being drawn back into the spy-world and reunited with old friends. When he reconnects with Q, he interrupts his quartermaster preparing for what looks like a romantic evening. In a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, Q says that “he” will be there any moment, in reference to his guest for the evening.
Technically, at no point during the scene does Q explicitly confirm that the evening he had planned is a date. Q just asks for one nice evening before the end of the world. However, many clues hint at this evening being romantic in nature. The first clue is that the table is set for two people, so it’s not a dinner party. The next is that the bottle of red wine Q has opened to breathe is a very nice bottle. When Bond inspects it and pours a glass for himself and Moneypenny, he is clearly impressed by the quality of the wine and its label. This implies that the evening is a special occasion. When paired with the rest of the scene, these clues build to the implication of a date.
If Q’s expected guest was more casual, he’d probably be less bothered by the interruption. A casual acquaintance or a good friend wouldn’t be put out by a work emergency, but a date may be less impressed or patient with the intrusion. Q is also making a nice dinner for the occasion. Sure, he could be putting in the effort for just himself or simply a friend, but the context certainly makes the whole thing seem like a date. Then Q confirms that the person set to join him uses the pronoun “he,” which seems to hint that Q is LGBTQ+.
While it’s definitely a step forward to include queer relationships in such a massive mainstream franchise, the actual quality of the representation is a bit lacking. If Q’s date had actually shown up and the joke of Bond and Moneypenny interrupting their date played out more explicitly, there would be a clearer punchline to the situation, which carries some of the movie’s delightful humor already. Plus, it would have made Q’s sexuality and the film’s inclusivity a little more concrete. Instead, No Time to Die never actually confirms who Q is expecting for dinner.
Q’s confirmation as a member of the LGBTQ+ community comes in a brief, easy-to-miss comment in No Time to Die which is both exciting and frustrating. It’s nice that Q’s sexuality isn’t his only defining trait nor is it played as a joke. However, the quality of the representation leaves something to be desired because it’s so easy for someone to miss or ignore, which undercuts its inclusion in the first place.
To see Q’s possible coming out, No Time To Die is currently in theaters.
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