From Connery to Lazenby, from Moore to Dalton, and from Brosnan to Craig.
The character of James Bond arrived fully formed in Ian Fleming’s first 007 novel, 1953’sCasino Royale.
Fleming’s Bond had a passion for cars, a refined palate and a sweet tooth for the ladies.
Sean Connery in ‘Thunderball.'.Everett Collection
Over nearly seven decades, that era would constantly change.
WhenSean Connerywas tapped to play Bond for the series’ kickoff installment, 1962’sDr.
No,Fleming couldn’t have been less pleased with the selection.
George Lazenby in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.'.Everett Collection
At 32, Connery was the right age and had the right physicality to play the character.
But Connery was a relatively unknown actor at the time and one who (gasp!)
had come up as an amateur bodybuilder.
Roger Moore poses driving a speedboat during the filming of ‘Live And Let Die.'.Anwar Hussein/Getty Images
Fleming had always imagined someone suave, elegant, debonair in the role.
Someone like David Niven, not a working-class Scot.
Clearly he’d underestimated Connery.
Timothy Dalton in ‘License to Kill.'.Everett Collection
Fleming would even rewrite 007’s backstory to include a Scottish father.
Connery was the pre-women’s lib Bond.
A rough-and-tumble Australian commercial model, Lazenby was far from a polished professional actor.
Pierce Brosnan in ‘Die Another Day.'.Keith Hamshere/MGM
He was coarse around the edges, more street-smart than book-smart.
During his audition to play Bond, he even punched a stunt coordinator in the face.
Bond producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli was impressed.
Daniel Craig in ‘Casino Royale.'.Jay Maidment/Sony Pictures
On Her Majesty’s Secret Servicegives us Bond for the Age of Aquarius.
While Connery’s 007 tended to treat women with disposable casualness, Lazenby’s Bond was more emotionally complex.
In the film, yes, he battles SPECTRE.
It’s a deeply moving moment in a series not exactly designed for moving moments.
This never happened to the other fellow, indeed.
But his run reflected the series’ struggle to find a foe with the same real-world resonance.
Exploiting cultural trends was a key element in the Bond playbook throughout Moore’s comparatively lighthearted tenure.
Just as Moore was a reaction to Connery, Moore’s successor would be a reaction to him.
At 41,Timothy Daltonseemed to be a relatively youthful shot in the arm.
His run would end after two films.
After a long five-year nap, a new-and-improved Bond was named:Pierce Brosnan.
And in 1999’sThe World Is Not Enough,Brosnan’s 007 gets ensnarled in oil politics.
But by then Brosnan was also driving invisible cars and throwing down with villains who lived in ice castles.
Fleming had always described his literary creation as a “blunt instrument.”
But that idea seemed to vanish along with Connery.Daniel Craigwould mark a return to that cold-and-brutal concept.
In the aftermath of 9/11, the gloves were now off.
And Craig’s Bond became colder, more brutal.
There’s a moral ambiguity to the Bond of the 21st century.
The more the world changes, it seems, the more it stays the same.
WithNo Time to Die,Bond is now on the brink of a new era.
This will be Craig’s last film as 007, and no one knows yet what will come next.
This is true not just of what will transpire onscreen but off it as well.
We have no clue where the world, or the franchise, is headed.
