How Daniel Craig Changed Bond

“Bond, James Bond” are words spoken by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan. Every James Bond in the past has been portrayed as the same unmatchable superhero with unlimited wit and charm. There are always cartoonishly intimidating villains with equally ridiculous plans to take over the world, and unusually specific gadgets to take them down. Clean suits, martinis, and tricked out cars are the key essentials for all of the older films – a movie without those would not even be a Bond film at all.

After the final Brosnan Bond film, Die Another Day in 2002, fans wondered who would take over the mantle and become the next James Bond. The release to the public of Daniel Craig’s casting was met with backlash against his never-before-seen blonde hair and bulkier build.  Fans exclaimed it was not suitable for the suave spy, and there were many comments remarking his acting style was “bland.” The movie shocked the world, though, and quickly became the highest grossing Bond film to date. This version was something no one had ever seen before in a Bond movie. The James Bond Craig played was an inexperienced, young spy who was constantly in trouble and barely escaping through the grit of his teeth. The villain of this movie was grounded and relatable to the time, the wacky gadgets are now turned to realistic and sometimes dysfunctional tools, and the suits, martinis, and car? Well those are not gone yet.

Each Daniel Craig movie dives into what it really means to kill for a living and what that does to him mentally. Bond, for the first time, does not want to kill but rather takes it as a part of his job. He grows and develops from a young, witty, and slightly rebellious agent to a faintly tired, experienced, and older Bond we see in No Time to Die. Love is something not commonly felt by Bonds in previous movies, including when he gets married in “Her Majesty’s Secret Service”-love. Vesper Lynd, the woman who he falls for in Casino Royale, lingers with him for the rest of the films. And many of his decisions are fueled by his love for Madeline Swan, who he loves in Skyfall and the films after, and others who he holds close.

While his time in the role ends with No Time to Die, the time Craig spent as Bond has left a substantial impact on it for future movies. Not only have they produced the biggest income for the franchise, the future movies are likely to be more realistic and include better and deeper characters than the ‘larger than life’ cartoonish ones we saw before. Changing substantial aspects of the Bond movies was a big risk for the team and even larger for Daniel Craig to pull off. As he said “Bigger ideas are the best...And the biggest ideas are tragedy and loss.”