Amazon Removes James Bond’s Gun from Prime Video Posters, Sparking Fan Backlash
Amazon recently used Photoshop to remove weapons from James Bond posters on Prime Video, sparking intense criticism from fans. After the outcry, the controversial images were replaced with film photos – but also without guns.
Amazon causes controversy among Bond fans
Amazon has announced James Bond Day on October 5th, the anniversary of Dr. No-premiere from 1962, new posters for the 007 films released on Prime Video – but with a questionable peculiarity. Fans quickly noticed that the secret agent’s signature Walther PPK had been digitally removed from all images. The “special” thing about it is that the editing was sometimes carried out so amateurishly that the results seemed downright grotesque. Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan suddenly appeared to be clutching air while Roger Moore’s arms were stretched to inhuman proportions for “A View to a Kill.”
Strong criticism and quick turnaround
It didn’t take long for the Bond community to react. A storm of outrage erupted on social media, with some calling the changes “woke,” like the Guardian writes. Many people found the decision to censor the weapons of a character known for his license to kill particularly absurd.
Amazon responded promptly to the criticism and quietly replaced the controversial posters with film photos from the respective productions. However, here too the company only selected images in which Bond is not carrying a weapon. At least one image from “Skyfall” also appears to have been post-edited to remove a firearm.
Not the first case of this kind
This isn’t the first time a streaming provider has retouched weapons from posters. When advertising “Thunderbolts*” on Disney+ in the summer, Disney digitally removed the superhero troupe’s pistols and cut the character Taskmaster completely out of the picture. A similar case occurred with the 20th anniversary version of ET. There, Steven Spielberg had the agents’ pistols replaced with walkie-talkies – and later regretted this intervention.
The James Bond franchise has a long history with guns, dating back to Ian Fleming’s original novels. The Walther PPK was first introduced in “Dr. No” and has been an inseparable part of Bond iconography ever since. Of course, this also includes the famous “Gun Barrel” sequence that opens every Bond film. It shows the agent with his gun drawn.
Bond’s future
The episode raises questions about the future of the Bond franchise under Amazon’s leadership. The group acquired the rights to the series for more than 8.6 billion dollars (around 7.4 billion euros) in 2022 through the takeover of MGM. However, with Denis Villeneuve as a possible director for the next film, the signs point to continuity of the tried and tested Bond formula.
