Now that the dust has settled on No Time to Die, with the 25th installment in the James Bond franchise having been available on VOD for well over a month after becoming the highest-grossing Hollywood blockbuster to hit theaters since 2019 thanks to a hefty $765 million box office haul, fans can now begin to reflect on the legacy of Daniel Craig.
The actor brought 007 kicking and screaming into the modern era, reinventing the iconic character as a troubled and deeply flawed human being haunted by the ghosts of his past. His tenure also saw the series adopt its greatest sense of continuity yet, with the events of Casino Royale fifteen years previously still weighing heavily on No Time to Die.
As you’ll no doubt be aware, the third act of Craig’s swansong did two things we’d never seen from Bond before; he was revealed to have fathered a child, and he was killed off to definitively draw a line under this particular iteration of the secret agent. Speaking to The Official James Bond Podcast, the actor addresses his demise publicly for the first time.
“There were lots of different ideas that came and went and some of it stuck. The through-line of this is family [and] love, plus the fact we had an end so it was about hanging the film off that. It was really very, very satisfying.”
The former incumbent of the tux offered his successor the sage advice of “don’t be sh*t”, something they should take to heart whoever they are and whenever they get announced, which is expected to be before the end of next year. One thing we can bank on is that Craig has set a very high bar, with No Time to Die sending Bond out on his sword.