While Skyfall showed one way for Bond 26 to handle the death of James Bond, the franchise likely won’t take this risky route when it comes to explaining the demise of 007. Daniel Craig’s final James Bond adventure No Time To Die broke new ground when the movie killed off the super-spy in its closing moments. While the actor playing James Bond changed numerous times over the decades, the franchise had never killed one version of the character onscreen, and this choice will inevitably impact the next movie in the series, Bond 26.
One of Craig’s earlier Bond movies, Skyfall, secretly showed how the franchise could handle this issue. In Skyfall, Judi Dench’s M is killed off during the finale, a shocking twist that proved even the franchise’s most reliable supporting stars could be killed. Dench’s version of the character was replaced by Ralph Fiennes’ M in Skyfall‘s closing moments, which could have provided a blueprint for Bond 26 to handle the death of James Bond in No Time To Die. However, the James Bond movies won’t follow this story, as this would require the franchise to concede once and for all that “James Bond” is a codename, something the series still hasn’t admitted.
M’s Death In Skyfall Secretly Changed James Bond
By showing the handover from one version of the character to another, M’s death in Skyfall changed how the James Bond franchise handled its recasting on a meta level. An early version of Die Another Day’s script featured a much more blatant attempt to do the same when Sean Connery’s retired 007 walked into Pierce Brosnan’s Bond and the two exchanged pleasantries. However, Skyfall killing off M was a much more substantial, less silly way for the series to confirm that the characters populating MI6 are all using code names, and therefore the likes of M, Q, and Miss Moneypenny could all be killed off and replaced.
Bond 26 Can Copy Skyfall’s M Replacement For James Bond
Bond 26 could do the same for James Bond himself, a character that viewers have long speculated could be numerous different people using the same codename. Admittedly, No Time To Die killed any chance of the code name theory being revealed via a playful cameo, since Craig’s dead version of Bond can’t appear onscreen again. However, Bond 26 could still feature characters discussing the death of Craig’s version of the character with his replacement, allowing the series to acknowledge that James Bond is a code name like 007, and that the title gets passed down when an earlier version of the spy retires or dies.
Why Bond 26 (Probably) Won’t Copy M’s Death
While this is technically possible, there is a good reason that Bond 26 is unlikely to confirm that James Bond is a code name. While Bond 26 needs to be fun again now that the brooding, self-serious Craig era is at an end, the movie can’t be an outright self-parody. As such, the franchise can’t concede that James Bond is a code name, because this drops the dramatic stakes of the series. With this theory confirmed, the James Bond movies would inherently show that James Bond is replaceable, which makes his status as a super-spy redundant.
If Bond can always be killed off and replaced by the next guy waiting in the wings, then there is no reason for viewers to worry about his life. Conversely, if the new Bond is explicitly depicted as a replacement for Craig’s version of 007, this means the character will still exist in the same world as Craig’s 007 and should therefore continue his story. While this means No Time To Die’s breakout star Paloma could appear in Bond 26, it wouldn’t be an entirely positive development for the series. The James Bond movies have developed a darker, heavier tone during Craig’s time in the role and now need to lighten up.
This will be impossible if Bond 26 takes place in the same version of the James Bond universe as No Time To Die and references the death of Craig’s Bond since this will start the movie on a dark note and establish that the next James Bond could also die in action. This is far from the fun escapism that the series needs to regain in Bond 26, and any clarity gained from stating that James Bond is a codename would be lost when the sequel began by mourning the franchise’s dead ex-lead. Instead, Bond 26 must ignore the James Bond codename theory, despite how easy it is to steal Skyfall‘s twist and confirm this idea.
