When Skyfall released last year, director Sam Mendes went on record saying he was doubtful he’d return to the franchise. That’ve been a shame, as Skyfall managed to be one of the best entries in the entire series, refining classic tropes of the character while injecting newness for an incredibly personal story for both Bond and M. Mendes’ trepidation centered around an unwillingness to participate in the two-part, back-to-back story Skyfall screenwriter John Logan had pieced together for Bond 24 & 25 via an extended story treatment – a four year commitment for whichever director ultimately signed.

Now The Daily Mail reports that, with the two-parter no longer in the cards, Mendes is back in play for a standalone Bond 24. A source for The Mail states Mendes is “75 per cent’ of the way towards doing it.”

I enjoyed Skyfall mightily. Now that the rebooted Bond is rooted firmly into a familiar status quo of sorts (Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris and Ben Whishaw are already set to reprise their Skyfall roles) I’d like to see what Mendes can accomplish in a more traditional Bond film. I respect what was accomplished in the previous effort, but we’re still without that classic, Craig-starring Bond film where 007’s shagging and shooting while a madman tries to blow up the world. Familiarity isn’t necessarily a bad thing in a franchise like this, as changing times and technology evolve the notion of what a typical Bond supervillain can and should be. Bardem was sublime as Silva, but a hacker trying to kill his maternal figure is small potatoes in the larger Bond pantheon. Eventually we’ll need a Blofield.