Daniel Craig first played James Bond in 2006's Casino Royale, and his tenure as 007 reached its conclusion in No Time to Die earlier this year. By this point, you'll know that the secret agent was killed in a hail of missile fire, sacrificing himself to save the world and his newly discovered child.
Now, Craig has finally shared his thoughts on being the first actor to kill Ian Fleming's iconic creation.
"If you stay to the end credits, it definitely says, 'James Bond will return,' so all is good," the actor told Variety (via Screen Rant). "I think the important thing was that we all try to create a situation of tragedy. The idea that there’s an insurmountable problem, there’s a greater force at play, and there’s nothing anybody can do about it. And the greater force being Savin’s weapon. And that it [kills] the only thing that Bond wants in life, is to be with the people he loves and that he can’t be with them, and therefore, there’s nothing worth living for."
"And he would in fact endanger their lives, and that’s the last thing on earth he wants to do. So that element was incredibly important to sort of thread in there, because it couldn’t feel like a random act. It had to have weight — without it, it wasn’t gonna work. And if we hadn’t have got that weight, I don’t think we would’ve done it. We would’ve found another way of ending it."
Craig went on to recall a conversation he had with Bond franchise producer Barbara Broccoli shortly after the Berlin premiere of Casino Royale. He asked her how many movies were on his contract (four at the time) and then suggested how 007's story could wrap up when he reached that final chapter.
"I said to Barbara, ‘How many of these movies do I have to make?’ Because I don’t really look at contracts or any of those things. And she said, ‘Four,’ and I went, ‘Oh, okay. Can I kill him off in the last one?’ And she didn’t pause. She said, ‘Yes.’ So, I struck a deal with her back then and said, ‘That’s the way I’d like it to go.’ It’s the only way I could see for myself to end it all and to make it like that was my tenure, someone else could come and take over. She stuck to her guns."
It's still pretty amazing to think that James Bond was killed off in No Time to Die, but we know that the hunt for a new actor to take over the role will begin in due course. Whether the same supporting cast will return remains to be seen, but a full-blown reboot for the franchise isn't outside the realm of possibility. As for Craig, it should be interesting to see what sort of projects he tackles next.
How about a big Marvel or DC role?