Lashana Lynch isn’t Bond, James Bond, but she is the new 007, and she’s not here for the troll population of the internet.

Lynch plays Nomi in the latest Bond venture, opening in April 2021 (which is a tentative date,) and in a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK, she confirmed that she will be the 007, at least for a while.

The official synopsis of No Time To Die says that Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica, but predictably, his peace is short-lived because his old CIA friend Felix Leiter turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

Lynch’s Nomi is the agent that dons the title of 007 in Bond’s absence and the actress had a hand in fleshing out the role. She didn’t want her character to be too slick or too hard, and told Bazaar that she worked with writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) to develop a character that had “a fresh female perspective,” one that was “subtly drawn, believable, perhaps even a little awkward.”

From the moment that the concept of a female 007 was leaked last year, the internet backlash was immediate and unsurprising. Lynch told Bazaar that she was prepared to not take any abuse hurled at her by trolls personally.

She told the magazine, “I am one Black woman—if it were another Black woman cast in the role, it would have been the same conversation, she would have got the same attacks, the same abuse.”

While Lynch was disconnected from social media, she tried to keep a positive outlook. “I just have to remind myself that the conversation is happening and that I’m a part of something that will be very, very revolutionary.”

Other franchises, like Doctor Who and Star Wars, that have given more and larger roles to women and people of color, have engendered the same types of reactions.Lynch starred as Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel alongside Brie Larsen, who was also the recipient of a depressing amount of online nastiness, so she’s familiar with the disease…and the cure.

“It’s not about me. People are reacting to an idea, which has nothing to do with my life,” she said in an interview last year.

What do you think about a woman as 007? Are you excited to see the next Bond flick? Let us know in the comments.