I was today years old when I learned that October 5 is James Bond Day. The ritual started in 2012 to mark the 50th anniversary of the London premiere of Dr. No, the first celluloid outing of the infamous spy. As we’ve been covering all year, Jeff Bezos flexed his full Bond Villain energy by shelling out $1 billion for Amazon Prime to have total creative control of the franchise. How’s that deal working out so far? Well, we have a confirmed director, a rumored Bond Girl, and a lot of opinions on who should next fill the agent’s tux; Daniel Craig looming like a spectre over casting. But while the next film is still in development, Amazon found another way to put their stamp on their new property. Just in time for James Bond Day 2025, Amazon unveiled new thumbnail artwork for all iterations of the titular hero… with the secret agent’s gun removed in each image. How do you think a fanbase that was scandalized over the first blonde Bond reacted to Amazon disarming him? They were shaken AND stirred.
Amazon Prime Video has quietly removed artwork of James Bond after fans of the franchise noticed that 007 had been stripped of his firearm in all of the images.
Deadline has confirmed that the original artwork was replaced by still from the Ian Fleming spy movies over the weekend, following a social media backlash that coincided with James Bond Day on October 5. Prime Video declined to comment on the matter.
On Friday, a number of Bond fans in the UK noticed that special Prime Video artwork had airbrushed out his gun. This included posters of Sean Connery’s Dr. No and Pierce Brosnan’s Goldeneye, in which the firearm was literally removed from the original image.
Other posters in the series were more subtle. Artwork of Roger Moore’s A View To A Kill appeared to have elongated the actor’s arms so his gun was out of shot. In a Spectre poster, Daniel Craig’s weapon was cropped out of the image.
Writer Scott McCrea said it was “nothing less than cultural vandalism.” Others argued that it was not a good sign for where the Bond franchise could be headed under Amazon MGM Studios, which recently installed Denis Villeneuve as the next 007 director.
Of course, where there is an internet oddity, a meme usually follows — and gunless Bond was no exception. Brosnan’s weapon was replaced with a variety of different objects (some more printable than others).
Rufus Jones, the British actor known for roles in Rivals and W1A, said the posters looked as if Bond was making an offensive gesture.
At the time of writing, the Bond thumbnails on Prime Video UK now contain action shots from the movies themselves, though they still do not picture the super spy brandishing a firearm. In one particular still from Skyfall, Craig’s gun was again cropped out of view.
The best memes are the ones that put hilariously out of place objects in place of the gun, like an excellent Goldeneye poster that shows a smoldering Pierce Brosnan grasping a sub sandwich. Dumb, silly humor goes a long way these days. While I wouldn’t call the removal of Bond’s weapons “cultural vandalism,” (settle down, lads), I can’t for the life of me figure out what Amazon was thinking. Was it supposed to be a quiet statement against gun violence? I’m assuming they used AI to alter the images, but was there really no human on payroll whose job it was to prognosticate responses from the fans? If not, then it seems Amazon bought a license to kill… the franchise!
Incidentally, we lost the superlative graphic artist Joe Caroff just this past August, at 103 years young. Caroff designed many of the greatest film posters of the 20th century. I bring him up because he was the artist who created Bond’s iconic 007 film logo, with the end of a gun cleverly attached to the edge of the “7.” If you get the chance, I highly recommend watching TCM’s documentary about him, By Design: The Joe Caroff Story. It’s a lovely case of a unique spirit landing into a uniquely suited life’s calling. May we all be so lucky.
Missed opportunity to showcase some Q gadgets tbh… https://t.co/w4kVXy9mqN pic.twitter.com/57LjIwWi1I
— Sean Longmore (@ThatTallGinger) October 3, 2025
Photos credit: STARSTOCK/Photoshot/Avalon, WENN/Avalon and Amazon via Twitter
Removing the guns from the posters won’t do anything against gun violence – guns are still in the films.
I suspect it was done to start the outrage because scandal sells better than vanilla. James Bond news coming soon?
Anyone got any ideas what this is all about?
00 designation (7 in his case) is literally a ‘licence to kill’. Sure he doesn’t have to use a gun but we all know there are plenty of them in the Bond films.
I’m baffled.
Amazon put them back.
Makes sense because there’s no shooting in any of the movies.
Shouldn’t October 7th be James Bond day?
It would read 1 (One) 007.