There are hints that James Bond may in fact die in the upcoming No Time To Die. The twenty-fifth installment of the long-running James Bond franchise, No Time To Die is highly anticipated well ahead of its release, as seen by its quite pricey Super Bowl ad, with the movie itself set to serve as Daniel Craig’s swan song to the role of James Bond. Although each 007 actor has managed to leave his own unique stamp on the character, Craig’s time as 007 has been among the most widely-heralded of all.
Beginning with 2006’s Casino Royale, Craig’s time as 007 has been largely defined by the sheer ruggedness of his interpretation of the character. Craig’s Bond is by far the most physical of the bunch, something established early on in the opening parkour chase of Casino Royale and maintained through his subsequent appearances. Additionally, Craig’s Bond has proven far more vulnerable than his predecessors, often coming significantly closer to death than those who came before him.
In fact, James Bond actually dying may well be the culmination of Daniel Craig’s tenure as 007 that is being set up in No Time To Die. This can be seen in the early trailers for the film, along with Craig’s previous Bond movies, both of which hint that his Bond will be meeting the ultimate end in No Time To Die. With even Craig himself being notably coy about what No Time To Die has in store for audiences, there is strong evidence that 007 will meet his end in the upcoming film.
Clues In The No Time To Die Trailer
Aside from the title itself, the trailer for No Time To Die carries a running theme of Bond’s mortality. This can be clearly inferred from the number of times other characters either reference the idea of Bond dying, or are noticeably surprised that he’s still alive, Bond having seemingly retired prior to the events of the movie. Bond’s interactions with the newer MI6 agent Nomi, played by Lashana Lynch, carry the feeling of the next mission possibly being Bond’s last, with Nomi telling Bond that “The world’s moved on, Commander Bond,” and warning him to “stay in your lane,” which seemingly alludes to Nomi having adopted the 007 agent designation in his absence. The trailer also sees numerous characters visibly shocked by Bond’s return, with Ben Whishaw’s Q even expressing surprise that Bond is still alive.
The idea of Bond dying is also touched upon by other character’s in the trailer, notably by Christoph Waltz’ Blofield. Commenting on Bond’s decision to seek a new life with Dr. Madeleine Swann, played by Lea Seydoux, Blofield ominously intones “When her secret finds its way out, it will be the death of you.” Rami Malek’s archvillain Safin (who, despite some early fan theories, turned out not be a disguised Dr. No) similarly alludes to the idea of Bond’s death, commenting on his background and skill set with the line “I could be speaking to my own reflection, only your skills die with your body, and mine will survive long after I’m gone.” With the trailer devoting this amount of attention to Bond’s mortality, and with numerous characters surprised by his return to action, these hints collectively point to No Time To Die actually following through on the hypothetical idea of 007 actually meeting his end.
Clues In Previous Bond Movies
Aside from the hints offered towards Bond’s demise in the No Time To Die trailer, Daniel Craig’s prior Bond movies also point to the character’s death as a logical conclusion to his time in the role. When Craig took the reins of 007 with Casino Royale, the overall aim was to present a more humanized version of Bond, and that theme has carried on throughout Craig’s tenure as Bond. When viewing Craig’s Bond movies as a whole, his version of the character is rougher around the edges and less omnipotent than his predecessors, while also being more susceptible to his own human frailty.
Nowhere is that better exemplified than in 2012’s Skyfall, which opens with Naomi Harris’ Moneypenny accidentally shooting Bond during a train chase, with Bond falling into a river below and being presumed dead until returning to MI6 of his own accord. Skyfall leans even more heavily into the mortality of its characters with the death of Judi Dench’s M, which itself almost went down a much darker path. Taken together, these elements of Skyfall serve to solidify the idea that the characters of Daniel Craig’s Bond movies are fully human in a way that past entries in the 007 franchise have never truly positioned them as being.
What These Mean For No Time To Die
When all of these clues are collectively examined, at a minimum, they point to No Time To Die being a transitional story for the character. Audiences are already being primed for the movie to mark a farewell at least to Craig’s time portraying Bond, and the way his version of the character has been positioned — especially with the allusions the marketing has made towards Bond dying — suggests a degree of finality within his Bond story not seen in the previous films.
What’s also really curious is how much the marketing for No Time To Die is seemingly positioning the film as the James Bond equivalent of 2017’s Logan. Logan was marketed just as heavily on being Hugh Jackman’s final performance as Wolverine, while the film itself had a similar premise of its grizzled, battle-hardened protagonist coming out of a self-imposed exile for one last mission. Logan took a deep dive into the basic mortality of its hero, and ended with him making the ultimate sacrifice. No Time To Die presently checks off every one of those boxes, with the death of its hero being the only point of comparison that cannot yet be confirmed.
With No Time To Die arriving in April, the movie is set to hit theaters with an overarching theme of Bond’s limitations not seen in past installments of the franchise, including what looks to be a very frank admission that even James Bond is human at his core. What that ultimately means for the character’s future on the big screen is still up in the air; though Lashana Lynch’s Nomi isn’t becoming the next Bond, she seems poised to factor into Craig’s time as Bond coming to an end, further indicating that No Time To Die will be venturing where no 007 movie has dared venture before.
Next: Which James Bond Movies To Watch Before No Time To Die
- Bond 25 Release Date: 2021-10-08
