Denis Villenueve and the classic James Bond brand are not congruent. Because deep down Villenueve is kind of an asexual dweeb type.
Look at him — you can tell right off the bat he’s never catted around to any degree, much less been lucky in this regard.
He’s a brilliant fellow and a first-rate filmmaker, of course, and may create something fascinating when the next Bond film finally gets underway, but Villenueve was chosen, I think, in order to put progressive women (i.e., the Jen Salkes of the world) at ease.
In the realm of imaginative movie fiction, Bond is no longer (and will never again be) a sexual conquistador figure. That ship sailed way back in the Pierce Brosnan ’90s, and was certainly a dim memory by the time Daniel Craig stepped in to the role. Nonetheless the sexual vapors from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s (Connery, Lazenby, Moore) still linger to a certain extent, and on a gut level there’s something about Villeneuve that doesn’t quite fit the mold. That cerebral French-Canadian thing plus the dweeb vibes.
Again, I think Amazon producers know this and are saying with this hire that #MeToo-ers needn’t be concerned,as it’s invonceivable that a guy who looks like Villeneuve would even think about injecting 007 with any kind of sexual serum.
95% of the people reading this don’t know how to pronounce Villenueve’s name. It’s DenEE VEE-luhnuhv.