Super Smash Bros. Ultimate features 86 playable characters, the largest roster in the series. This is mostly due to its “Everyone Is Here” theme that made it so that every character that had ever been playable in a previous entry was guaranteed a slot in this game.
As it turns out, Masahiro Sakurai has been working on a secret game project since April 2022. He apparently finished the proposal for the game at “lightning speed” back in July 2021 while he was still overseeing the development of Kazuya Mishima and Sora as the final DLC challengers for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
For now, details about this secret game project are scarce. One of the leading theories right now suggests that Sakurai is already working on the next entry in the Super Smash Bros. franchise.
Sakurai himself believes in the possibility that there will probably be another Smash entry someday. This follow up could either continue expanding Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s massive roster via the “deluxe edition” route, or ultimately design a Smash with a smaller cast.
Either way, there will probably be newcomers added to the series since that makes up a big part of what Smash is all about. As such, Sakurai may end up returning to some scrapped ideas in a future entry.
For example, Sakurai has apparently wanted Geno as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for years, but has never been able to make it a reality. With the recent release of Super Mario RPG on the Switch, the remake of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on the Super Nintendo, Geno’s chances feel like they may be higher than ever before.
Rumors suggest that Sakurai was considering James Bond from GoldenEye 007 — Nintendo 64 game based off the movie that was released back in 1997 — for Super Smash Bros. Melee. Indeed, GoldenEye was such a hit on the Nintendo 64 that it was a possibility that fans were truly hopeful about.
At one point, Sakurai was asked about whether or not James Bond could be playable in Melee via a fan email. Sakurai cited “adult matters” as to why the character couldn’t be included.
More specifically, James Bond was prohibited from being playable in Melee due to his usage of realistic weapons, Pierce Brosnan’s portrait rights, movie rights, and the fact that Microsoft had recently bought Rare around that time.
Since then, many have interpreted Sakurai’s comments to mean that he had actually considered James Bond as a playable character at one point. However, it’s more likely that Sakurai was simply informing the fan that those “adult matters” made James Bond’s inclusion impossible right from the get-go.
Regardless, it is interesting to note that there is actually GoldenEye content within Super Smash Bros. 64 with the Proximity Mine item. In the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Proximity Mine was redesigned to better resemble the mine in Perfect Dark, with the game of origin in international releases listed as being “TOP SECRET.”
Of course, it’s also worth mentioning that the idea of including James Bond would violate at least one of the rules that Sakurai has come up with specifically for including third party characters. For these characters to be added to Smash, they have to be iconic, have to originate from a game, and had to have appeared on a Nintendo console at least once before.
Similar to how James Bond was prohibited due to his usage of realistic weapons, Snake from the Metal Gear series was limited to using explosives. Utilizing GoldenEye 007 as source material would’ve made developing a moveset for James Bond particularly difficult considering that it’s a first-person shooter type game.
Overall, it doesn’t seem particularly likely that Sakurai would’ve included James Bond as a playable character even if these “adult matters” weren’t issues that needed to be resolved. Indeed, Sakurai has been adamant that a character like Dragon Ball’s Goku would never be playable in Smash due to his origins not being tied to video games.
Still, the concept of James Bond in Smash might’ve been interesting. If he was playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Sakurai would’ve had to figure out a way to have him return in Smash Ultimate, otherwise its “Everyone Is Here” theme would be for naught.
This likely would’ve been an impossible task, so maybe it’s for the best that it didn’t happen.