Ana de Armas’ performance in No Time To Die isn’t just a great part of the James Bond film, it flipped the script on what audiences should expect from Bond girls. Bond girls have been a key part of the James Bond franchise since the first film, Dr. No, where Ursula Andress portrayed Honey Ryder, who emerges out of the ocean in a white ʙικιɴι holding two seashells for an image that has defined Bond girls ever since, for better or worse. Since that first film, nearly every entry has included a Bond girl, all varying in importance and quality.

A Bond girl doesn’t simply mean a woman in the James Bond universe. The character specifically refers to a love interest, female companion, and occasionally, adversary, of James Bond, with many of these characters having names that are puns or double entendres, like Plenty O’Toole or Mary Goodnight. When done poorly, these Bond girls can be one-note and even Sєxist, but when done correctly, they can be the best part of a James Bond film, like Ana de Armas is in No Time To Die, which she does by not following the usual Bond girl playbook.

Ana De Armas’ Paloma, Explained

Paloma Is A CIA Agent And Ally To James Bond

Ana de Armas appears in the 2021 Daniel Craig James Bond entry, No Time To Die, as Paloma, a CIA agent who works with Bond in one sequence of the film. Paloma is first referenced by Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), as his CIA contact in Cuba, and when Bond arrives to break up a Spectre gathering, he finally gets to meet her. She quickly brings Bond to a supply closet and, after a brief moment of cute confusion, Paloma hands Bond his tux, perfect to go with the blue cocktail gown she’s sporting. Together, they head into the party.

Using mercenary Primo’s (Dali Benssalah) bionic eye as his video source into the party, Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) unleashes a nanobot mist on the party intended to kill Bond. However, Obruchev (David Dencik) and Safin (Rami Malek) reprogram the nanobots to kill the Spectre attendees. Bond and Paloma then flee the party with a captured Obruchev, shooting Spectra agents and escaping unharmed. Paloma dual wields a machine gun and a pistol on her way out, and once the fighting is over, Bond shakes her hand, telling her, “You were excellent“, and the pair depart as equals.

How Ana De Armas’ Paloma Flips The Bond Girl Stereotypes

Paloma Is Bond’s Equal And A Force In Her Own Right

From the moment she’s introduced, it’s clear that Paloma is going to be different from any other Bond girl introduced in a James Bond movie. After she spins around, admittedly looking like a Bond girl usually does in her evening gown, her reaction to Bond is much more funny than other female agent introductions in the franchise. Far from being a seductress or someone who sizes Bond up, Paloma is like a fan girl or an employee who has just met her new coworker and is excited to get to know them. As it turns out, that is the case.

Paloma explains she’s only been on the job for three weeks, and this is her biggest case, a fact she’s delighted about, while Bond seems mildly caught off guard. Even while helping Bond get dressed, there’s more daffy, comedy energy between the pair, than there is sizzling romantic chemistry. It’s a nice change in pace from what most fans are used to. Paloma is not some pushover though, and far from a hindrance to Bond. She’s incredibly capable with a gun and martial arts, quickly dispatching several pursuers with some nifty flips and kicks.

Then, when she’s done, Bond and Paloma depart as equals, shaking hands. James Bond doesn’t tend to shake hands with women, often finding himself in more intimate situations with him. But that’s what’s so great about Paloma; she’s a co-worker and an impressive one at that, and Bond understands this. She’s smart, dangerous, and genuinely seems happy to be on a mission. De Armas’ portrayal is a breath of fresh air in the film. Not ultra-serious, and clearly enjoying her time, Paloma shows how it would actually be a lot of fun to be a secret agent in Bond’s world.

Paloma Isn’t The First Bond Girl To Challenge Stereotypes (But She May Be The Most Important)

Other Bond Girls Have Not Fit Into The Classic Mold

There have been a few Bond girls over the years who don’t easily fit into the classic mold. Eva Green as Vesper Lynd was the first Bond girl in the Daniel Craig Bond franchise and her differences from past Bond girls also displayed how Casino Royale was different from past iterations of the franchise. While Vesper is a love interest for Bond, it’s a relationship built on mutual respect and trust that slowly develops throughout the film. Both characters have the upper hand in the relationship at one point, and there are much more equal power dynamics at play.

No Time To Die also has another Bond girl who subverts the traditional role: Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). Bond’s first legitimate love interest since Vesper, Madeleine has a relationship with the film’s villain, Safin, that does not include Bond, very unusual for Bond girls, whose lives are often only important to the plot through their relationship with Bond. Still, Paloma is the most important Bond girl to challenge the traditional characterization.

She feels so much different than the Bond girls who had come before her, and if her first moment wasn’t swirling around in a bar to look alluringly at Bond, it could be missed that she’s set up to be a Bond girl at all. Paloma is a character that feels like she had an immensely interesting story before she appeared, and could go on to have a story even more exciting than Bond’s after.

Could Paloma Return For The Next Bond?

Ana De Armas Knows Who Should Be The Next Bond

While Bond girls don’t tend to reappear in James Bond movies, Madeleine broke that rule herself in No Time To Die, so there’s certainly a chance that Paloma could return. Considering Felix had become a recurring character, the face of the CIA, and considering his fate at the end of No Time To Die, it could be that Paloma will take his place as Bond’s US contact. There has been no news about whether Paloma could return to the franchise and Ana de Armas has not commented on whether she would even want to.

Ana de Armas has talked about who she thinks would make a good next Bond (Paul Mescal), but she has been mum about her own role in the franchise. De Armas has become one of the biggest working actors at the moment and if producers do want to bring her back for a new James Bond movie, she’ll probably need a beefier part than her one scene in No Time To Die.