Although James Bond franchise fan theory right, its ending also ironically killed any chance of canonically confirming the theory. For years, viewers of the James Bond franchise have theorized that James Bond is a codename that is ed on from one agent to another after they retire or die. This would explain why the actor who pays James Bond changes, but no one ever comments on the character’s changing appearance (or his lack of aging).
Originally, 2002’s Die Another Day confirmed that Bond was a codename when an early draft of the movie had Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond meet Connery’s retired 007 in ing. However, while No Time To Die’s Bond death wasn’t as brutal as director Cary Fukunaga’s original plan for 007, the twist still shut down any chance of this scene or another like it happening in a future franchise installment. Since he died, Craig’s version of James Bond can’t the baton on to the next 007 in person. This is arguably a good thing, as a cameo could have been the clumsiest way of confirming the popular fan theory. Nevertheless, No Time To Die's approach makes the earlier Die Another Day plan impossible.
Die Another Day’s Canceled Codename Theory Scene
In early drafts of Die Another Day, the campy spy thriller saw Brosnan’s Bond casually chat with Connery’s Bond, implicitly confirming that the character’s moniker is a codename after all. There was a precedent for this since Q and M were both replaced by new actors who kept the character’s name in later James Bond movies. Roger Moore even recommended making Miss Moneypenny the new M, thus confirming that the job was a title rather than a specific character’s name. Meanwhile, 007 was already a codename that linked Bond to a chain of other agents, meaning it was no major stretch to imagine that the name James Bond might be an alias.
It’s Better For Craig’s Bond To Stay Dead
While No Time To Die shut the door to any future appearances by Craig’s version of James Bond, this is a good thing. Brosnan’s Bond could pull off a meeting with another version of 007 since the actor’s movies in the role always had a winking sense of meta-humor. In contrast, campy cameos don’t fit the gritty aesthetic of Craig’s dour, brooding Bond, and seeing him come back from the dead for the sake of a brief appearance would undo the tragedy of his character arc. Between the Brosnan years and Craig’s tenure in the part, the James Bond franchise went from auditioning Britney Spears for a role to some of the most brutal torture scenes in the series.
The tone of the 007 series was altered completely by Craig’s early movies in the role and, while his later James Bond movies did bring back some more playful elements of the franchise, they still weren’t particularly silly or self-referential. While 007 got his exploding watch back and faced off against villains with masks and eye patches, the stakes of Craig’s James Bond movies remained high, and their tone was still self-serious. No Time To Die’s ending ensured that no future James Bond franchise installment could bring back Craig’s version of the character for a codename cameo, but his earlier 007 movies proved this would never have worked anyway.
