Video Essay – There’s Only Ever Been One James Bond: A 007 Nerd’s Chronology

While I like to imagine that James Bond is a pseudonym for each new 007, I do like this way of looking at the Bond movies to tell one big story. Check out the video from IGN below.

With No Time to Die and Daniel Craig’s final turn as James Bond on the horizon, the 007 franchise is entering its 7th decade. From Sean Connery’s first outing in Dr. No, through Roger Moore’s seven entries in the franchise and Pierce Brosnan’s hit-and-miss run from Goldeneye to Die Another Day, Her Majesty’s top secret agent has seen several different M’s and Q’s and Moneypenny’s over the years, but has James Bond been the different over the years as well? The fan theory that James Bond: 007 is a codename may be the easiest one to subscribe to, but there’s another, shaken-not-stirred way to watch the franchise; in chronological order as though he’s been the same guy this whole time.

So here are all the fan theories, logic leaps and general delusions you’ll need to entertain to enjoy James Bond in “The Spy with Her Majesty’s Quantum Finger” and get answers to all your most obvious questions!

How do you account for Judi Dench’s Q being there for Pierce and Daniel? Or Bernard Lee being there for Sean, Roger and George Lazenby? Or all the different people that have played Ernst Stavro Blofeld? Or the fact that Bond got married and immediately widowed? What about an actor being recast in multiple roles like Charles Gray?

This isn’t about the best James Bond Movies or the worst James Bond Movies, it’s just that 25 movies, 6 actors and almost 60 years of the franchise leave plenty to work out to make sense of the characters chronology. Let us know what you think of the timeline in the comments!