..and they CAN. (Spoilers) AND she can BE 007, because James Bond isn't 007 any more because he quit after the attack by SPECTRE in Italy. Oh wait, that's what happens in the movie.
Well yeah. I mean…. It would completely destroy the continuity of the character to do otherwise. For over 40 years we have watched the character of James Bond mature and grow, learned everything about his history and life and mindset. Seen him progress in his career and watched his outlook change with age and experience. To throw that all away and reduce James Bond to some sort of archetype- just some template of a spy who we twist their characterization details to suit the zeitgeist of a time and the audiences concepts of cool or interesting would cheapen the character.
Is that what we want? Some parade of changing faces and personalities and timelines and plot where the only similarities are that we have a spy who may or may not use gadgets and acts cool and sleeps around? What would James Bond be if that happened? Probably not the deep franchise it is today. What if they hadn’t carried continuity from Dr. No through Casino Royal?
What if audiences went in to theaters and suddenly James Bond has a totally different fave and voice, new mannerisms, is disconnected from the events we watched him go through in the previous films? What if for example he went from a campy jet setter to a reserved gentleman or his films went from movies about secret volcano layers to Bond driving tanks and mowing down armies single handedly? Who would still like Bond today? If they wanted to go from goofy gadgets like submarine cars and laser watches to gritty realism or take light hearted Bond and make him a tortured man of regret I’m sure they’d just make a new character and not just give you a new star and a vastly different protagonist and call it “James Bond” and just expect you to go with it. Bet me money if they tried to make a more serious and grounded bond that those monies would flop and lose all credibility for the franchise.
Is that what we want? Some parade of changing faces and personalities and timelines and plot where the only similarities are that we have a spy who may or may not use gadgets and acts cool and sleeps around? What would James Bond be if that happened? Probably not the deep franchise it is today. What if they hadn’t carried continuity from Dr. No through Casino Royal?