Daniel Craig’s 007 Era Was Great

The James Bond franchise needs to bring 007’s comedic side back into focus in Bond 26 after the critical and commercial success of Daniel Craig’s more serious take on the character. Since his inception, the suave super spy James Bond has always teetered on the verge of ridiculousness. Even James Bond series producer Michal G Wilson lamented in 2008 that, although the franchise’s creators always set out to create another From Russia With Love with each new movie, they often found themselves with another Thunderball by the time production wrapped on the latest franchise installment. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing and can be a boon to the series.

Despite what viewers might assume, 007’s silly side has not always been an enemy of the iconic secret agent. Pierce Brosnan’s version of Bond leaned into Bond’s goofiness with self-aware comedy, and this made for a welcome change after the dour tone of Timothy Dalton’s 007 adventures. In turn, Dalton’s movies were made darker in reaction to the overblown, almost self-parodic tone of Roger Moore’s final Bond outings. However, Moore’s earlier movies were seen as a welcome introduction to Bond’s goofy side after Connery’s more reserved take on the character. This tonal balance constantly needs to be revisited, which is why Bond’s campy comedy needs to make a long-awaited comeback in Bond 26.

Bond 26 Needs To Compete With Fun Blockbusters

From The Da Vinci Code to Batman Begins to the Bourne trilogy, post-9/11 blockbusters were almost entirely grim and self-serious. In contrast, the biggest box office hits of the early 2020s have been Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion, and Fast & Furious sequels—a lighter, sillier, and more self-aware breed of blockbuster. For Bond 26 to compete in this brutal blockbuster marketplace, 007 needs to lean into his fun side again. The MCU’s self-aware comedic relief has now spread into almost every major franchise and the James Bond movies are perfectly suited to this style of writing, particularly when many earlier 007 adventures helped invent this quippy approach.

In Bond 26, the next version of 007 needs to be closer to Moore’s winking self-parody or Brosnan’s slyly sardonic take on the part than Dalton’s humorless Bond or Craig’s tortured, tragic spy. While the Bourne franchise can pull off more self-serious installments even in the 2020s, this is because the series takes a more realistic approach to depictions of the CIA and MI6. In contrast, the James Bond franchise is unabashedly escapist wish fulfillment and its few attempts to address real-life geopolitics, like 2008’s Quantum of Solace, ended in disaster. Rather than trying to take itself seriously, the James Bond franchise should embrace its inherent silliness.

Bond 26 Can’t Copy Craig’s Movies

Replicating Daniel Craig’s style in the 2020s will leave viewers missing the absent actor. As such, the best approach for the franchise to take for Bond 26 is to do a huge tonal shift, leaning into comedic relief. Paloma’s No Time To Die role alone proved that critics and audiences alike want a more fun take on 007 and this could reignite interest in the franchise after the long wait for the announcement of Bond 26’s new star. The entire reason that Craig’s 007 was so appealing in his first outing was that this self-serious Bond couldn’t have been less like Brosnan’s charismatic cornball, meaning Bond 26 needs another, equally unexpected reinvention.

Craig’s Bond Already Got Campier

While Craig’s Bond debut Casino Royale was arguably the darkest movie in the entire series, this did not end up defining the tone of the star’s later 007 outings. Whether it was over-the-top villains like Safin and Blofeld, the winking humor of No Time To Die, or even the fact that Phoebe Waller-Bridge contributed to its screenplay, Craig’s later Bond movies acknowledged that the era of self-serious Bond movies like Quantum of Solace was over. No matter who the next James Bond actor is, Craig already paved the way for the franchise to bring back its cartoonish elements and more over-the-top storylines.

Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld revealed that he was Bond’s secret brother in Spectre before 007 escaped via an exploding wristwatch gadget. This story could have been lifted verbatim from a Bond parody from decades earlier, but it wasn’t the first time that Craig’s Bond reintroduced some of the franchise’s welcome silliness. In 2012’s Skyfall, M’s death was treated seriously, but Javier Bardem’s campy villain Silva and 007 booby-trapping his titular childhood estate Home Alone-style were both more than a little goofy. Craig’s Bond was gradually preparing viewers for a return to the silliness of earlier outings, but these movies didn’t have much of a sense of humor around their absurd elements.

Bond 26 Can Return To 007’s Roots

While Bond didn’t get outright silly until Moore’s time in the role, it is worth noting that Connery’s early movies did have absurd, cartoony details like piranha tanks, mountainside lairs, and luxurious villains. While the franchise doesn’t necessarily need to remake Dr. No in Bond 26, the next outing should take some inspiration from this classic era. The James Bond novels written by Ian Fleming were a little more serious and grounded than their movie adaptations, but Bond always had a ludicrous side to him since he first appeared onscreen. Failing to utilize this element of the character would be a major mistake and would leave the franchise feeling like a relic.

The gritty blockbusters seen in the wake of 9/11 are effectively dead. Even the most self-serious major movies, like 2022’s The Batman or Zack Snyder’s output, have enough larger-than-life detail to feel fantastical and self-aware. The hyper-realistic, grim tone of the Bourne movies doesn’t appear in the multiplex anymore and the James Bond franchise is already on the back foot since the series doesn’t involve any fantasy or paranormal elements. However, James Bond movies can integrate some comedy into their franchise formula, making the series feel less tired and ensuring that viewers know that the classic 007 is back. Bond 26 must do this to keep interest in the James Bond franchise alive.