Does it make sense to have Tom Hardy play Shaft?

At last the voice of reason. Thank you. I agree 100%

Of course not. Michael Cera is the only acceptable Shaft.

Shaft's ethnicity is central to his character.

Bond's ethnicity is not central to his character, but his NATIONALITY is, which happens to be the same as Elba's.

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You could not be more wrong I've read all the Bond books Scottish Swiss heritage also read about Ian Fleming as he based Bond on himself and his exploits and last time I checked Ian Fleming was white British. So stop this crap once and for all Idris Elba could never be and should never be Bond!

Bond's ethnicity is not central to his character

Wrong Ian Fleming based on the idea on bond on people he met during the war, "Bond was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types that I met during the war" which included Fleming's brother, Also suggested the look of bond was based on himself and resembled an American actor in the 1930s/40s called Hoagy Carmicheal who was white...

So to correct you, Bonds ethnicity is much as important to the character as Shafts ethnicity is to that role, To recast Shaft as white would be stupid much as recasting Bond as Black would be, Because they're going against the source material to please a political correct minority

Personally I think Idris Elba is an Excellent actor but things like these overshadow his talent because there looking at his colour instead which is wrong!

Thank you for the additional information in your post I did not know the bit about the American actor found it really interesting I've now googled the actor and he is pretty much what Fleming put in his books when describing Bond. Thanks

The mere fact that you claim an American actor is the physical mold for Bond and the previous comment talks about the importance of British and or Scottish heritage indicates that ethnic background is not a main component of Bond. There are plenty of characters of every ethnicity who should not be played by someone outside the character's original ethnic background but Bond is not one of them.

Shaft, on the other hand, is by definition and indeed purpose a black man. I do not recall any bit in any Bond song mentioning Bond as white. There is not an intrinsic racial component at the heart of Bond mythology. Bond is British. In 2015 a black man can be every bit as British as a white man. If Idris were a few years younger, he'd make an excellent Bond.

The mere fact that you claim an American actor is the physical mold for Bond and the previous comment talks about the importance of British and or Scottish heritage indicates that ethnic background is not a main component of Bond. There are plenty of characters of every ethnicity who should not be played by someone outside the character's original ethnic background but Bond is not one of them.


Ian Fleming based on the look partly on the American actor and partly on himself... So yes his ethnic background is just as important as Shafts ethic background is...