Is James Bond the very same person throughout all the Bond movies in a single timeline?
Is each Bond portrayed by a different actor a Bond in another universe/timeline? And does it always reset when a new Bond takes over?
Is James Bond a shared cover name given to different agents over time in a continuous universe?
Posted Jul 13, 2022, 4:18 PM UTC
There is no answer and there doesn't need to be. It's like how Bart Simpson has been in 4th grade for 30 years. Just don't think about it.
Yeah it's fun to come up with little fan theories and conspiracies. But the actual answer is that there isn't one and it doesn't matter.
The fan consensus is:
The James Bond from Dr. No to Die Another Day is the same person in a floating timeline (think the Simpsons). As already mentioned here, there are small, but clear, references to past missions and to Bond being married (most notably Roger Moore's Bond dropping flowers at the grave of George Lazenby's Bond).
Daniel Craig's Bond is a reboot, and was specifically intended to be a different character. The Craig movies form their own, separate timeline and person.
I would also point out that in The Spy who Loved Me, the Russian agent Triple X pointed out to Moore's Bond, many ladies friend, but only married once and Bond cut her off quite suddenly.
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Yes, I think the 007 might be passed on, though...is it?
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Thanks, @passwordisTaco! ✅
For a long time they tried to maintain some continuity between the actors. Supposedly this is why they had that weird scene at the beginning of For Your Eyes Only with Bond visiting his wife's grave and fighting Blofeld. They wanted to establish that he's the same Bond as Connery's. Even as late as Timothy Dalton's Bond they made some reference to his late wife.
With Brosnan's Bond, it became less clear. He was already a seasoned veteran in Goldeneye, but he was also apparently meeting Moneypenny for the first time. With Daniel Craig, it was clearly a different guy. We saw the beginning of his career. We saw him meet both Moneypenny and Q. We saw him encounter a different version of Blofeld . And finally, we even saw him die. So, the next Bond will obviously not be the same guy, unless they want to get into sci-fi resurrection stuff.
I thought it was pretty clear that Craig's version was a reboot.
In the books, it's all simpler, of course. James Bond is James Bond. In movies, over the course of time, they've used different actors. It's nothing to be worried about, just like older scifi movies having 1970s tech and newer ones set further in the past but having more modern tech and blinky lights. It discombobulates some people. Those people, no offense, are stupid. Using logic and reality to argue about what happens in fiction where the creators can do whatever the hell they want to for whatever reason they want to and it doesn't have to jibe with previous events because you're making it up later is a foolish endeavor.
He was already a seasoned veteran in Goldeneye, but he was also apparently meeting Moneypenny for the first time.
That wasn't Miss Moneypenny in the car giving him an evaluation, that was a different actress. Not Samantha Bond (yes, a Miss Moneypenny actress named Bond! Hah!).
Is James Bond the very same person throughout all the Bond movies in a single timeline?
For a while we were lead to believe that. There were small references here and there. But obviously Dan’s Bond was not the same guy as the others.
Is each Bond portrayed by a different actor a Bond in another universe/timeline? And does it always reset when a new Bond takes over?
No and not usually. But it did reset with Dan.
Is James Bond a shared cover name given to different agents over time in a continuous universe?
Definitely, certainly, assuredly no.
It's supposed to be the same Bond. There's occasional references to his wife from On Her Majesty's Secret Service, for example, and other things of that nature calling back to previous adventures.
Whether it's the same timeline, aka, in chronological order, could be up for grabs, but given that Bond has been around since the 60s... who the heck knows at this point. They just keep making them, y'know?
There's been talks of a female Bond and/or a non-white Bond, so if that happens, it becomes obvious: James Bond is really The Bond, and the entity uses 'James' as a first name to fit in on Earth, and decided playing a 00 for England is a nifty thing to do. And why would it be an 'entity' now? Well it's obvously a Gallifreyan and they got stuck on Earth, so it lives out its life, morphing into the next version as an unknown to us adventure gets them killed... regenerating and reporting to M with the proper passcodes and everything is reset for the new Bond.
This is, of course, an illegal crossing of the streams, but c'mon, it would explain plenty. :)
Edit: I wonder what a female Bond first name is supposed to be anyway.... Jane? Janine? Jamison? James-Anne?
Edit2: Of course, they could just make her/him/? a new 007 as The Bond retires and be whatever name they want to be, so I guess there's that...?
There's also a scene in On Her Majesty's Secret Service where George Lazenby's Bond looks at the camera and says "this never happened to the other guy!" Where he pokes fun that he is not Connery. That made me realize that it really doesnt matter since the creator's dont really care about that kind of continuity
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He’s a fictional character who has been represented in ~25 films over the last ~60 years.
He’s a single person who just happens to live in a reality that soft reboots all the time, hell there’s barely any continuity between films with the same actor
There is between Daniel Craig's own
If James Bond dies on a mission, they just cast a new one, give him the same name, and hope no one notices.
I think that was one of the major plot points in the original Casino Royale movie, which was a parody.
Yes.
He has a mild case of Benjamin Button Syndrome but doesn't like to make a fuss of it (the strong silent type).
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James Bond isn't a person, it's an idea.
Next bond will stop spectre from opening the multi verse in the upcoming trilogy. JK. They reboot the franchise every decade or so to keep it fresh but originally he was a Scottish spy who drinks alot, sleeps around a lot and hates commies and anyone who dares go against the crown.
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It's pretty clear after No Time to Die that the old fan theories of James Bond 007 being a code name for a series of secret agents is a real thing.
No, the number designation is shown to be reusable, but his name is just his. The other 007 is not "James Bond".
It's just a stupid idea, the purpose of a service number is to be unique, what's the point of having one if it's reusable.
When the agent retires the number is held for a period before being recycled. Until then, it refers to a specific agent. It's unlikely that it's the only number in the system for them, but it's easier to remember less numbers than it would be to go "Okay Double O 57643". Think sports teams. They don't tend to retire numbers unless there's a significant reason, but they won't just give two people on the same team the same number.
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He's Bond. James Bond.
Shaken not SHtirred.
Came into my head so...
Conclusive evidence he is Sean Connery.
Daniel Craig and Timothy Dalton can be, too.
Everyone else thanks for your efforts but get out.