(Credits: Far Out / United Artists Releasing)
Mon 8 December 2025 22:30, UK
Ever since the Broccoli family ceded full creative control of the James Bond franchise to Amazon MGM Studios, two words have been looming ominously over the iconic spy series that send a shiver down the spine of long-time fans every time they hear them: shared universe.
After Marvel Studios upended the cinematic landscape when it released Iron Man in 2008, a hit movie spawning a string of sequels simply won’t do anymore. Instead, it needs to be part of a massive tapestry of prequels, spinoffs, TV shows, and various other forms of tie-in media, which Bond has always resisted.
If Eon Productions thought there was any mileage in expanding the 007 mythos, it would have happened by now. However, under the new ownership, the utterly redundant reality TV series, Road to a Million, has already gotten two seasons, and nobody’s going to be surprised when it’s inevitably announced that supporting characters rooted in Ian Fleming’s creation will be getting movies or shows of their own.
To be fair, it’s already happened once, even if the people in charge would rather you didn’t remember. Unfortunately for Eon, impressionable young viewers of a certain generation can still recall the short-lived James Bond Jr, the animated series that ran for a single 65-episode season before being cancelled. Since then, it’s never been officially released on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, or streaming.
Because it’s the 21st century, though, you can find them on YouTube. The title might sound self-explanatory, but it’s still confusing, since James Bond Jr is actually 007’s nephew, and not his son, and many of the core characters are connected to the ones audiences will recognise from the big screen.
As a student of Warfield Academy, James Bond Jr goes on adventures with IQ, Q’s grandson, and Gordo Leiter, Felix Leiter’s boy, and they battle such threats as Goldfinger’s daughter, Goldie Finger, as well as returning villains like Oddjob, Nick Nack, and Jaws. It’s hardly the pinnacle of television, and it’s something the rights-holders have tried to sweep under the rug for obvious reasons.
“The fact remains that after almost 30 years, this show about James Bond, or rather, his nephew, has never officially been released on DVD to the public, as far as I know,” writer Terrence McDonnell shared. “If it’s true, that says a lot. Maybe someday everyone will get a chance to see it, maybe not. Maybe the owners want to leave it and let it die a quiet death.”
Why did Eon let it happen? Partly because Kevin McClory, who owned the rights to certain aspects of the Bond franchise, which allowed him to make Never Say Never Again, wanted to produce an animated series, so the stewards of the official 007 saga decided to get in front of him and create one of their own.
Since it premiered in September 1991, in the midst of the protracted battles that saw the franchise enter its longest-ever sabbatical between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye, it was an effort to do at least something with the dormant property, keep it in the public eye, and potentially create a new revenue stream from merchandise sales. Children of the ’90s might remember James Bond Jr, but there are others who have no idea it even exists.
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