Amazon Prime Video has quietly removed artwork of James Bond after fans of the franchise noticed that 007 had been stripped of his firearm in all of the images.
Deadline has confirmed that the original artwork was replaced by stills from the Ian Fleming spy movies over the weekend, following a social media backlash that coincided with James Bond Day on October 5. Prime Video declined to comment on the matter.
On Friday, a number of Bond fans in the UK noticed that special Prime Video artwork had airbrushed out his gun. This included posters of Sean Connery’s Dr. No and Pierce Brosnan’s Goldeneye, in which the firearm was literally removed from the original image (see above).
Other posters in the series were more subtle. Artwork of Roger Moore’s A View To A Kill appeared to have elongated the actor’s arms so his gun was out of shot. In a Spectre poster, Daniel Craig’s weapon was cropped out of the image.
Writer Scott McCrea said it was “nothing less than cultural vandalism.” Others argued that it was not a good sign for where the Bond franchise could be headed under Amazon MGM Studios, which recently installed Denis Villeneuve as the next 007 director.
Of course, where there is an internet oddity, a meme usually follows — and gunless Bond was no exception. Brosnan’s weapon was replaced with a variety of different objects (some more printable than others).
Rufus Jones, the British actor known for roles in Rivals and W1A, said the posters looked as if Bond was making an offensive gesture.
At the time of writing, the Bond thumbnails on Prime Video UK now contain action shots from the movies themselves, though they still do not picture the super spy brandishing a firearm. In one particular still from Skyfall, Craig’s gun was again cropped out of view.
