Gunless James Bond posters removed from Amazon Prime Video after online uproar

Artwork depicting James Bond without a gun has been deleted from Amazon Prime Video after a flurry of fan complaints.

James Bond is a violent man who possesses a licence to kill, and frequently takes villains out using his legendary Walther PPK.

But a funny thing happened to his weapon over the weekend, as to coincide with ‘James Bond Day’ on October 5, Amazon scrubbed that firearm from artwork on its Prime Video service in the UK.

Posters were doctored so the gun was nowhere to be seen, prompting a backlash from fans of the super-spy.

James Bond fans clap back at gunless 007

When the James Bond faithful clocked the changes, they took to social media to make fun of gunless 007.

One fan claimed Bond was “just being disarming, darling,” another claimed he’s now reduced to a “licence to slap,” while a third bemoans the fact that we’re now in a world where “promoting James Bond 007 needs to be done without his sidearm.”

Actor Rufus Jones pointed out that Bond now looks like he’s doing something rude with his gun hand, writing: “Amazon have removed the guns from their Bond posters, giving the tantalising impression that Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan think you’re a w*nker.”

While others were more concerned about what this means for the future of 007, now that Amazon owns the character. One fan calls the company “wet wipes” for making the changes, while another sums up a widespread fear: “They photoshopped all the guns out of the James Bond movie thumbnails. Just in case you still had hope for Amazon being in charge of the franchise.”

According to Deadline, “the original artwork was replaced by stills from the Ian Fleming spy movies over the weekend,” while Amazon declined to comment on the matter.

A new James Bond movie is currently in the early stages of development, with Dune director Denis Villeneuve overseeing proceedings once he’s done with Part 3 of the sci-fi franchise.