The Gray Man Fulfills Ana de Armas’ No Time To Die Promise

Ana de Armas returns to the spy action movie genre in The Gray Man and Ana's new role takes her scenes as Paloma in No Time To Die to the next level.

Warning: SPOILERS for The Gray Man

Ana de Armas’ role in The Gray Man fulfills the promise she showed as Paloma in No Time To Die. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, The Gray Man is based on the novel by Mark Greaney and centers on Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling), a top CIA operative on the run after uncovering corruption at the heart of the Agency. Ana de Armas plays Dani Miranda, a CIA agent caught between helping Six escape the villainous operative coming after him, Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), and following her orders from the Agency’s sinister director, Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page).

As Paloma, de Armas stole No Time To Die from Daniel Craig’s James Bond during their unforgettable scenes together. Paloma was the CIA agent stationed in Havana, Cuba who Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) assigned to help 007 infiltrate a Spectre event and capture a scientist abducted by the minions of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). Paloma, who claimed she only had three weeks of training, utterly charms Bond (and the audience). But the CIA operative also proved that she wasn’t just at 007’s side because of her smashing looks and sultry cocktail dress. When it came time for a violent shootout with the agents working for Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), Paloma capably held her own fighting alongside Bond. Thanks to Paloma’s skill and ingenuity, 007 was able to complete his Cuba mission, and it was a disappointment when it became clear Paloma would not be sticking around for the rest of the film.

Thankfully, Dani Miranda is a major character in The Gray Man and she’s the primary female protagonist in the film. Miranda makes contact with Sierra Six in Bangkok at the start of The Gray Man and is there to lend support as his mission goes sideways. After Six acquires a thumb drive with proof of Denny Carmichael’s corruption and goes on the run, Dani pieces together who is actually in the wrong, which is confirmed during her briefing with the odious CIA head. From there, Miranda goes rogue to assist Six, rescuing him in Vienna and fighting at the Gray Man’s side in Prague and into the film’s ultraviolent climax in Croatia.

The Gray Man Improves On Paloma In No Time To Die

As memorable and effective a sidekick as Paloma was in No Time To Die, she was still cut from the classic Bond Girl mode where Paloma was presented with her sex appeal front and center. The Gray Man takes a different route by reconceiving Dani Miranda as a field agent, first and foremost. Dani is always a professional doing her duty, but she’s guided by her moral compass, unlike her CIA superiors. Miranda is never in The Gray Man to serve as Sierra Six’s love interest and, while Ana de Armas’ beauty and charisma shine through, Dani is never a sex object. Even better, Dani is a formidable fighter, proficient with guns, in hand-to-hand combat, and she gets to drive the Bond-like Audi supercar owned by former CIA London station chief Margaret Cahill (Alfre Woodard).

Dani actually saves Sierra Six several times in The Gray Man, which becomes a running joke that wounds Six’s already battered ego. Miranda goes toe-to-toe with the dangerous assassin, Avik San (Dhanush), and she even gets to shoot Lloyd Hansen in the posterior. By the end of The Gray Man, Dani is in a position where she doesn’t have to fear Denny Carmichael’s wrath. Ana de Armas will next play a female assassin in Ballerina, a spinoff of John Wick, which will continue her action movie chops. But The Gray Man‘s Dani Ramirez is much closer as a spiritual continuation of Paloma in No Time To Die, just taking that same female CIA operative archetype to another level.