This article was taken from the October 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
In Skyfall, the latest Bond film, the new quartermaster -- better known as "Q" -- isn't a doddering gadget-maker: "He's a whizz-kid computer hacker," says Ben Whishaw, who plays the role in the Sam Mendes-directed movie. "On the one hand, he looks quite unthreatening because he's young and, I suppose, geeky -- but he's quite powerful, really, in terms of what he can do on his laptop. It is this clash of the old and new. Bond's surprised that he's having to answer to this kid, really."
Whishaw's Q brings the character up to date. "What inspired Sam [Mendes] and the writers were people like Mark Zuckerberg and Julian Assange -- the power of these people and the damage they could do," Whishaw says. "The enemy is now being fought in a totally different way -- we've moved from hardware to software. As Q says in the film, he could do more harm with a laptop right now than Bond could in a year with his gun."
As a result, "there are very few gadgets -- you don't need them. It's about one thing, this palm-print-encrypted pistol, and using it well, rather than a lot of exploding pens." And Q takes on a more active role, helping Bond find out what the villain, a hacker, is up to. Pay attention, 007.
Skyfall is out now
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
