Would that it were so simple.
Nah, I’ll pass.
But I would appreciate seeing the other 00 agents as prominent characters and as allies, not just the villain that Trevelyan was. Like 008 was considered by the book Bond as a careful and dependable agent who would avenge him if Goldfinger killed him.
Edited by CrimsonZephyr on Apr 14th 2020 at 8:48:31 AM
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Goku Black
Have we actually seen any of other 00's barring times they die and Trevalyen as a villain.
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Would that it were so simple.
They all show up during the briefing in Thunderball (or at least, every 00 in Europe does), and the people sitting with Bond during the briefing in TWINE — the scene where it's mentioned that 009 fired the bullet that's lodged in Renard's brain — are his fellow 00s.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
About 009 shooting Renard in the head, did he ever get back at him for that? I'd imagine Renard would REALLY like to have words with 009 about that incident.
Branching off of Hamburger Time's post and I think connected to other posts, I wondered others' thoughts on how you'd like to see Bond "retooled" going forward.
When I rewatched From Russia with Love, it struck me that although the movie, as well as Bond himself, are pretty sexist, and I wouldn't want that replicated, Bond comes across as a reasonably humane guy, and it struck me that the tone, including how his willingness to kill was treated, wasn't that different than the MCU. And in fact, I'd probably say that Bond is even less kill-happy than a fair number of MCU characters.
Relatedly, you really get the idea of Bond and his co-workers as bureaucrats, and it kind of reminds me of how in Indian Jones in that Bond is presumably doing boring/mundane work in between his cool missions.
So, I'd like to see a Lighter and Softer Bond and to get that "very British office comedy" reintroduced. And it would make sense to have other "Double O" agents as well.
If I were to reboot the franchise, I'd definitely have Bond spend a little time with other 00s. Like, if he makes an off-handed reference to 008, we'd say, "Oh yeah, he's talking about Phil." And if we start out with Bond being a newbie, maybe he can form a relationship with 006, where Alec shows Bond the ropes or something. If we knew who Alec was before he turned evil, that would give his betrayal that much more punch. Also, in real life, the head of MI6 is C. In the Bond universe it's M. Maybe like, you could have C be the head of MI6, but M is in charge of the super secret black ops program that is the 00 program.
Redmess
Well, the best thing really would be to just retire him at this point and end the franchise.
Barring that, if you really want to modernize him, you'd basically have to rewrite his character. And then he would no longer be James Bond.
Either we Grandfather Clause him, or we accept that there is no longer a place in our media for James Bond.
Optimism is a duty.
Would that it were so simple.
Bond as an office bureaucrat is actually the purest canon. That's what his day-to-day is described as in Moonraker.
The problem with the latter day Daniel Craig movies is that it always seems like MI 6 has just five employees, period: M, Moneypenny, Q, Tanner, and Bond. Let's show MI 6 as being the actual, large organization it actually is. Bring back the Vauxhall Cross building into the canon, bring back Mary Goodnight and Loelia Ponsonby as the 00 Agents' secretaries, and sort of delve deep into the canon to populate the MI 6 of Daniel Craig's successor with a richer supporting cast. And then keep their own histories moving, like for example, in Colonel Sun the head of the MI 6 office in Greece used to be 005 until he got blinded in one eye and had to retire from active duty.
Also, the 008 from the Fleming books was named "Bill."
I've been doing a deep dive into Bond, since I'm cooped up avoiding Covid-19.
Edited by CrimsonZephyr on Apr 14th 2020 at 9:59:03 AM
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Redmess
I'm not sure that was just the later movies, though. The early movies give a rather similar impression, especially given how he seems to be the only man for the job despite his incompetence.
Optimism is a duty.
Would that it were so simple.
The impression I got was that there weren't any other 00 agents nearby, or like the case in Thunderball, M was casting a wide net and following numerous leads. Other 00s get mentioned often enough — and Bond is threatened with replacement by 008 a couple times when he pushes back at M — that it's made clear that if it's not Bond, someone else will do. What I'm talking about is in films like Skyfall and Spectre, where instead of one particular assignment, Bond is entangled in high level policy decisions as to the fate of the entire organization.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
I'm forgetting but where was it stated that the producers stated where that female agent won't be the new Bond?
Would that it were so simple.
She's the new 007, as in the bearer of the codename in NTTD, but the character's name is "Nomi."
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
You gotta admit, it's interesting to consider the idea that Madeleine is cut from the same cloth as Octopussy
.
Random question, but are any hard details known about what Bunt's role in DAF would've been if not for Ilse Steppat's tragic Author Existence Failure?
Would that it were so simple.
She probably would have been killed in the opening sequence, or the film may have been a more faithful recreation of YOLT, where she dies at the end. We don't really know, since Ilse Steppat died pretty much immediately after OHMSS was released, so outside of speculation, there isn't, to my knowledge, a draft script where she appears.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
DAF is one of those movies where, while undeniably deeply flawed, you can easily understand, if not forgive, why it was that way due to the behind-the-scenes baggage. Writing around a real-life actor death, Lazenby parting from the franchise on bad terms, consequently having to re-recruit Connery with the kind of salary that could pay for a SPECTRE superweapon, and dealing with the exceptionally pissed off fanbase of the day who were demanding a reversion back from OHMSS's Darker and Edgier tone.
Yes, I know I said something similar about TROS in the Star Wars thread recently. It's a very similar story, I think.
Would that it were so simple.
I don't think a smoother production or a second appearance by Lazenby would have saved DAF. The movie was straight up based on one of the worst books in the original canon and they went and made it even worse, the madmen. The followup OHMSS deserved was a faithful adaptation of YOLT the book.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Disagree that the film's worse; at least the villain and evil plan aren't mind-numbingly boring like the book.
I would like to ask everyone about your favorite one-liner, since James always has one up is sleeve. For me, it will always be "Last rat standing" in Skyfall. It reinforced the theme of Bond being relevant in today's times and the similarities he shared with the villain.
Edited by The12thDoctor on Aug 24th 2020 at 3:56:05 AM
Doctor of Doctorates
I have a soft spot for the "Yes. Considerably." from Casino Royale as it was a fantastic Establishing Character Moment for the Craig Bond and the new, grittier style going forwards.
"These 'no-nonsense' solutions of yours just don't hold water in a complex world of jet-powered apes and time travel."
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
That works as well! 
Pierce Brosnan has the ones I like the most ("For England, James?" "No. For me.") but I think the quintessential James Bond one-liner is from The World Is Not Enough.
"You wouldn't kill me. You'd miss me."
(bang) "...I never miss."
Edited by Gaon on Aug 24th 2020 at 10:35:50 AM
"All you Fascists bound to lose."
A fun headcanon I've had for a while: Bond did indeed non-fatally shoot Elektra... but he still didn't miss. Do you have any idea how talented with guns you need to be to GUARANTEE a non-fatal shot?
She's now in one of those places that doesn't officially exist serving a Hannibal Lecter-esque role for MI6; turns out you learn a lot about the world's nastiest people when you're dating one of them.
There's also no proof Valentin died either and you can't convince me otherwise. Though I could absolutely see him deciding he's not cut out for organized crime after that and pursuing a more peaceful line of work; tending animals in the picturesque mountains of Scotland, maybe?
Edited by HamburgerTime on Aug 24th 2020 at 10:27:34 AM
Redmess
Realistically, you'd have to be god. There is no such thing as a deliberately non-fatal shot.
Optimism is a duty.
Probably a longshot, but a though I had? After Craig's departure, the Bond series becomes the 007 series, following a chain of characters holding that rank as the lead actor changes. I don't mean the Codename Theory *spit* or anything like that - just a succession of explicitly different people holding the same rank/position over time. Like with M.
Edited by HamburgerTime on Apr 14th 2020 at 6:56:00 AM