Overseer of the James Bond franchise Barbara Broccoli has teased that the spy will return despite the explosive ending of No Time To Die.

Speaking at the Deadline Contenders Film: New York event, Broccoli said: “We’ll figure that one out, but he will be back. You can rest assured James Bond will be back.”

She stayed tight-lipped however regarding who will be taking over for actor Daniel Craig, 53, who bowed out of the role in the last film.

One thing is for certain, 007 won’t be swapping gender.

Speaking to Variety last year, Broccoli said of the subject: “James Bond can be of any colour, but he is male.”

She added: “I believe we should be creating new characters for women - strong female characters.

“I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”