How Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag Weaponizes A Beloved James Bond Actor

This article contains spoilers for “Black Bag.”

In 1995’s “Goldeneye,” the recently appointed head of MI6 known as M (Judi Dench) gives superspy James Bond, 007, a dressing down. She tells him point-blank that she regards him as “a sexist, misogynist dinosaur” and “A relic of the Cold War,” someone whose methods, despite being in service of common goals for Queen and country, are antiquated, dangerous, and offensive. The James Bond films (as produced by EON Productions from 1962-2020) would indulge in making metatextual commentary on their spy protagonist from time to time, ever since George Lazenby winked at the camera and mentioned “the other fella” at the start of 1968’s “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” This meta comment by M in “Goldeneye” had a bit more depth than usual, however, alluding to several aspects of the character. It hung a hat on the resurgence of the problematic Bond character during a decade that was priding itself on social consciousness (then called “political correctness,” now called “woke”) while also winking at Bond fans regarding his most recent recasting. As now played by Pierce Brosnan, the moment in “Goldeneye” sets the tone for his Bond tenure.

Brosnan’s approach to the role was so well-rounded and gregarious that he’s become some fans’ favorite over the likes of Sean Connery and Daniel Craig. As Bond, Brosnan brought the gruffness of Connery’s take on the character and blended it with Roger Moore’s whimsical sarcasm, finishing it off with a dash of Timothy Dalton’s intensity. More than any other actor in the role, Brosnan seems to be a Bond for all seasons, lending the character a special quality of his own: while the other actors to play Bond were a bit of a wild card in their own way, there was always something steadfast and reliable about Brosnan’s 007.

That’s why Brosnan’s role in Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, “Black Bag,” is deliciously meta in its own way. Although Brosnan doesn’t appear in the movie as much as the core six cast members led by Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett do, his appearance is given that much more weight thanks to his history playing Bond. In “Black Bag,” Brosnan’s character of Arthur Steiglitz is in charge of England’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and he’s also the film’s chief villain. It’s a turncoat part reminiscent of so many thrillers, but it’s given extra juice thanks to Brosnan’s performance and his presence itself, making it the closest depiction yet of James Bond as a baddie.

In “Black Bag,” NCSC operative George Woodhouse (Fassbender) is told by an informant that the agency has a traitor in their midst, someone who is likely seeking to sell a top-secret piece of technology the agency has developed codenamed Severus (after the Roman emperor, not the Dark Arts teacher). This tech can cause the meltdowns of numerous power plants when installed, creating a political situation which would destabilize whatever target country it’s used on. After being led to suspect one of his coworkers as the traitor (including his own wife Kathryn St. Jean, played by Blanchett), George launches his own secret investigation. His machinations pique the curiosity of Kathryn, who unbeknownst to George is actually seeking this traitor, too, especially once she and George simultaneously realize they’re being played against each other.

Turns out that’s because Steiglitz is the puppet master behind the scenes, using his employees at the NCSC as his own smokescreen to undertake an unsanctioned op and get Severus used within Russia in order to destabilize it and make moves to install someone else in power there. The thousands who’ll die as a result are, of course, of no consequence to Steiglitz or his traitorous minion (whose identity I will not reveal here, in hope of saving some surprise for those of you reading this ahead of seeing the film). So, not only does Brosnan essentially get to play a version of M, but Soderbergh and writer David Koepp emphasize Steiglitz’s “ends justify the means” rationale in order to contrast with Brosnan’s natural integrity and his history as Bond, making his actions that much more morally murky than mustache-twirling.

For his part, even though Stieglitz’s betrayal is effectively a plot twist, Brosnan never turns on the charm in order to distract audiences from his black hat nature (unlike he does in Edgar Wright’s “The World’s End,” for example). He’s a gruff, no-nonsense, arrogant jerk from his very first scene, another indicator that Soderbergh is using the actor’s built-in appeal to mitigate his bad behavior. In fact, the way Brosnan is used in “Black Bag” is somewhat a double “Goldeneye” reference, for in that film, Sean Bean portrays Alec Trevelyan aka 006, a fellow MI6 agent who turns against his colleagues for nefarious purposes. If an also-ran Bond could be a Bond villain, then an actual former Bond can, too.

However, the James Bond films are not the only spy movies that “Black Bag” homages. Amidst little touches and allusions to movies such as “All the President’s Men,” “The Ipcress File,” and the works of John le Carré, there’s the fact that Koepp, according to the film’s official press materials, first conceived of the idea for the movie while researching his script for 1996’s “Mission: Impossible,” the first in the still-running (literally and figuratively) Tom Cruise franchise. That movie, like “Black Bag,” is less concerned with hanging its star from increasingly perilous heights and is more involved with themes of deception and morality, especially with regard to how ordinary human beings can maintain any sort of life when their entire existence is made up of obfuscation. It’d be wrong to call Koepp a pessimist, but he certainly contains a healthy dose of cynicism when it comes to lifelong practitioners of spycraft.

As evidence, “Black Bag” and “Mission: Impossible” perform a very similar trick: weaponizing the audience’s nostalgic sympathies against them. In “Mission,” Jon Voight portrays Jim Phelps, a character played by Peter Graves during the majority of the original “Mission: Impossible” TV series and someone who was unquestionably a heroic character in that show. Although Voight doesn’t resemble Graves exactly, the fact that he’s intended to be playing an older Phelps who then betrays his entire team (including Cruise’s Ethan Hunt) allows the emotional knife to cut deeper. It certainly offended the cast of the original series, most of whom were still alive to see the film. While “Black Bag” doesn’t punch Bond fans in the stomach as hard as that, it’s still a wound to see Brosnan turn heel.

Maybe M really did have his number, after all.