Prime Video Took Away Bond's Gun, Much to Fans' Dismay

Over the weekend, there was some hubbub in the James Bond community when fans online noticed that Prime Video (the Amazon platform that now owns the IP) was using some interesting key artwork for the series' listings in their catalogue.

It appeared that the thumbnails removed all firearms from the images, including ones where Bond was posing with the weapon close to his face.

This was apparently contained to the Prime Video U.K. site. It was likely spotted quickly because Oct. 5 was James Bond Day, which is celebrated every year to honor the release of the first Bond film, Dr. No.

The resulting images, to varying degrees of success, concealed the presence of the Walther PKK in the image by either removing the gun entirely, leaving a hand empty, or altering other elements, such as arm length and the image crop.

Dr. NoCredit: Prime Video

X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit weren't too happy to make the discovery, and the backlash was swift. Many expressed concern that this was an indication of the franchise's potential direction.

As of early 2025, Amazon MGM Studios acquired creative control over the character and the franchise's future productions. Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who managed the series for decades through their company Eon Productions, announced they would step back from creative direction.

On a post about the images, one Reddit user, Kozmo_Arkanis, quipped, "The Man with the Golden Airbrush."

Of course, the internet had a field day, Photoshopping items back into Bond's empty hands. Screenrant even ranked the new posters.

Prime Video quickly reversed course, according to Deadline, by reverting back to still images for the films, although the company opted for gunless photos in the new choices as well. The gun is either cropped out or Bond is shown in a more suave, "safe" pose.

Fans' consternation is understandable when a move like this could be taken as an attempt to neuter the super spy, whose gun is very much part of his work. It also comes at a time of increased censorship and editing, like after a Chinese distributor changed the gender of a character in Together without Neon's permission.

If you'd like to look at all the edited key art Prime Video pulled, MI6 HQ has the full gallery.