Black Lives Matter Needs A Black James Bond (Source: Michael Varner)

Michael Varner, a black male creative producer and graduate of historically black college Howard University, is developing a new comic book series that features the “black James Bond,” a character that he believes has never existed in entertainment mediums before. In the wake of racial injustices around the killing of black men by the police, Varner believes part of the problem is due to poor public perceptions of black men.

The root cause in Varner’s opinion has a lot to do with clothing style: he believes that, although black men do wear a variety of styles, in Hollywood black males are mostly depicted in street or urban wear as opposed to dress wear, which gives rise to negative perceptions of black men. Varner is determined to change that by creating a black male character that is all about dressy style – an archetype that is currently absent and sorely needed in the entertainment industry.

“It occurred to me that there is no recurring James Bond equivalent character for black men to admire or emulate, or for the public at large to see – no sexy, suave, well put together, intelligent black man that wears suits and tuxedos daily,” said Varner.

Varner’s imagination lead him to think up a sexy, well dressed, highly intelligent black character that is a secret spy – Seth Banks. The character is an accomplished college professor by day and international super spy by night, who wouldn’t be caught dead in “Timbs” or a hoody. The story centers around Banks’ involvement in a rogue division of the CIA, named Division 6, as it uncovers a financial plot to siphon money out of Eastern European Belarus and embroil that country’s President in scandal in the process. It’s a complex plot that Varner describes as “Mission Impossible meets Syriana.”

As the script nears completion in July, he is enlisting a team of artists to illustrate several pages of the comic and then pitch to major comic book publishers.