What makes 007 oh-so-beloved by fans? On this week's episode, the Nickscast (and special guest friend, Tom) talk about why it is that folks are such a fan of the intruiging English spy, James Bond!
Next week, we'll be dipping our toes into the Whedonverse as we talk about fans of *Firefly*: Browncoats!
## Episode outline
### [Last Episode's](http://fanthropological.com/e/33-cinephiles-ft-efg-nick/) Famous Last Words
**G:** Are there people who are only interested in the books, and if so, why? What's the Tom Bombadil of James Bond films? How faithful are the movies to the books?
**Z:** The iconic scene of James Bond being strapped down to a lazer. Is that lifted from the books, or movie original?
**T:** How important is universal love of the movies? Can you love just a movie? Just one bond?
**EFG Nick:** Why is Hank Scorpio the greatest bond villain of all time?
### Fandom Facts
**Origins:**
James Bond is a fictional British Secret Service agent, created by Sir Ian Flemming in 1953. Flemming wrote Bond into twelve novels and two short story collections.
Though Flemming passed away in 1964, Bond has only become more popular, starring in twenty-four films, and eight other authors officially continuing his adventures.
The first EON Productions James Bond movie, *Dr. No*, was release in 1962.
There are two non-canonical movies: *Casino Royale* (a 1967 spoof) and *Never Say Never Again* (a 1983 remake of an earlier Eon-produced film, *Thunderball*).
**Fandom Origins:**
The first fan club was founded in 1972 by two high school students from Yonkers, NY. In 1974, they started publishing a magazine, *Bondage Quarterly*, however, it and most (if not all) other James Bond zines published no fan-fiction.
**Changes in Fandom:**
In general, trending downward worldwide, though there are peaks around when the movies were released based on [Google Trends data since 2004](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=james%20bond,007). It hasn't been a huge drop though, perhaps about 20%. The data is based on when it was most popular in search traffic so hard to say.
**Fan terms:**
The Connery-through-Brosnan universe is often called "Classic Bond" or "Classicverse". The reboot starring Daniel Craig is thus far called the "Craigverse", though once Craig is replaced a new name will probably emerge.
**Related fandoms:**
Indiana Jones and Jason Bourne (based on Facebook data, via [Hollywood.com](http://www.hollywood.com/movies/skyfall-box-office-bonanza-57242023/))
**Demographics:**
In a survey of US James Bond fans by [YouGov](https://today.yougov.com/news/2012/11/15/he-last-played-james-bond-1983-americans-say-sean-/)...
- Across all groups, Sean Connery is the preferred bond (52%); Daniel Craig (16%), Pierce Brosnan (13%), Roger Moore (10%), Don't Know (7%)
- In the 30-44 Age group, Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore run a close second
- Daniel Craig gets the most support from folks under 30
- 6 in 10 Americans claim to be James Bond fans (1 in 5 claim to be "big fans")
- Bond fandom does not appear to be indicative of any particular gender, age, or political leaning
> Smirnoff vodka, which had been featured in Bond films since Dr. No, was replaced with Finlandia vodka in Die Another Day. A Smirnoff representative said that the company had lost interest in the Bond audience, whose major demographic they saw as men aged 25 to 45, and that it was seeking younger, more social customers aged 21 to 29.
>
> — [Wikipedia - James Bond Fandom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond_fandom)
**Fanfics:**
Looking at Fanfiction.net, there are only 12 fanfics specifically for the James Bond movies, but well over 2000 results featuring the term "James Bond". Archive of our Own has over 8000 fanfics for Bond fandom, most focussed on the movies (97%), and most focussed on the Daniel Craig movies (91%).
### Are you in, or out?
**G is in.**
- But will probably stay at his current level of involvement,...
