The 007 Conspiracy: a controversial theory.

With the release of "Quantum of Solace" mere weeks away, I thought I would post something I put a lot of thought into a while back. OK, so with "Casino Royale", it should be obvious that they've officially confirmed that James Bond is NOT always the same person, as Daniel Craig's Bond became agent 007 in only 2006. They've hinted at this concept in the past (Lazenby referred to Connery's Bond as 'the other fella'), but never until CR blatantly confirmed it.

The concept of 'James Bond' as a codename actually originated in the unofficial 1967 version of "Casino Royale", in which we learned that the original WWII-era James Bond had since retired and the service has been giving agents his name. Though technically a non-canonical movie, it does explain the inconsistencies throughout the official films. What has never been explained, however, is why (even in the official movies) the character of Felix Leiter is always so different; the recent movies in particular, as well as the unofficial "Never Say Never Again", made it more confusing by suddenly making the character black. It can only be assumed that 'Felix Leiter' is a codename as well.

But how many James Bonds are there, exactly? As far as we've seen, at least seven. Let's look closer.

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JAMES BOND HIMSELF (David Niven)
Organization: MI-5

Casino Royale (1967)

* Romantically linked to Mata Hari, with whom he produced a daughter named Mata Bond.
* Honored after retirement by Her Majesty's Secret Service, who began assigning his name and number to new agents.
* Decided to live a life of celibacy after Mata Hari's execution (which he unwillingly participated in).
* Knighted by Her Majesty the Queen.
* Had an American nephew named Jimmy Bond who was also recruited by the British secret service (probably for name value alone), and who later proved treacherous as he would become a SMERSH operative under the pseudonym Dr. Noah.
* Disliked one of his namesakes (likely Sean Connery's Bond), upon whom he wished death. He was sickened by his namesake's ever-rampant libido, especially in the light of the fact that this other "James Bond" usually killed who he slept with.
* Killed in an explosion at Casino Royale, sometime during either 1966 or 1967. The culprit behind the explosion was in fact Sir James's own nephew Jimmy, who was also killed in the blast.
Note - Historically speaking, a tryst with Mata Hari would've been impossible, especially given Mata Bond's young age in the mid 1960's. This inconsistency has never been explained.


FIRST KNOWN NAMESAKE (Sean Connery)
Organization: MI-6

Dr. No (1962)
From Russia With Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Never Say Never Again (1983)

* Apparently joined the service sometime prior to 1962, as he is already an experienced agent by the time of "Dr. No".
* Took a vacation in 1969, and for reasons unknown, apparently did not return to the service until 1971.
* Disappeared from the limelight in 1971, but returned to the service sometime prior to 1983. It was during this time that his superiors considered him to be in a bad physical condition, and temporarily relieved him from his duties so that he would be able to undergo physical rehabiliation. (However, it is notable that his 'superiors' in 1983 are obviously not the same superiors of the Roger Moore Bond, nor does this Secret Service appear to be stationed in the same building as MI-6. A tenuous theory would be that Connery's Bond now works for MI-5, as seen in 1967's Casino Royale. The appearance of this locale doesn't match the Royale building either, but a change in location or unseen remodeling of the MI-5 building is a possibility.)
* Announced his retirement from the service in 1983, and apparently never returned.


SECOND KNOWN NAMESAKE (Terence Cooper)
Organization: MI-5

Casino Royale (1967)

* Recruited by Miss Moneypenny's daughter, under the orders of Sir James Bond.
* Real last name was Cooper; first name unknown.
* Trained to resist women, thanks to a number of recent sex scandals involving British secret agents.
* Was never able to perform a mission, because in the short time between his recruitment and his apparent death, he was being held captive by SMERSH's Dr. Noah.
* Apparently not killed in the explosion at Casino Royale. What happened to him instead, however, is not known.


THIRD KNOWN NAMESAKE (Peter Sellers)
Organization: MI-5

Casino Royale (1967)

* Recruited by Vesper Lynd, under the orders of Sir James Bond.
* Real identity was Evelyn Tremble, a published author and known baccarat expert.
* Assigned to bankrupt Le Chiffre (Orson Welles) at baccarat. He was given the guise of James Bond, because his true name would have been recognized by Le Chiffre.
* Underwent mental torture after failing to surrender his baccarat winnings to Le Chiffre.
* Shot to death by Vesper Lynd, who was in fact a traitor secretly working for SMERSH.


[I should point out here that "Casino Royale" also sees the original Bond's nephew Jimmy (Woody Allen) working for the English secret service, but this appears to be his own name and not a given codename. Furthermore, the characters of Vesper (Ursula Andress), Mata (Joanna Pettet), Moneypenny (Barbara Bouchet), and the Detainer (Daliah Lavi) are all given the codename of 'James Bond 007'. This is, however, merely for the purpose of confusing the SMERSH organization; and unlike Cooper and Tremble, none of these characters actually act as a namesake for Bond.]


FOURTH KNOWN NAMESAKE (George Lazenby / Roger Moore / Timothy Dalton)
Organization: MI-6

George Lazenby:
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Roger Moore:
Live And Let Die (1973)
The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
A View To A Kill (1985)

Timothy Dalton:
The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence To Kill (1989)

* Referred to the Connery Bond as "the other fellow," and served in 1969 while that Bond was on vacation
* Fell in love with Tracy di Vicenzo, who was murdered at the hands of Irma Bunt. The depression caused by this event plagued him for many years.
* Turned against the service twice. His first conflict with the service occurred when he was removed from the assignment to locate Ernst Stavro Blofeld and told he was not permitted to continue his search. The second occurrance of disloyalty dealt with the service's refusal to allow proper retribution against the individual who maimed Felix Leiter and murdered Felix's wife. On this second occasion, Bond's insistence on avenging Felix led to the removal of his licence to kill, which was reinstated shortly after.
Note - There is no easy way to explain the sudden age jump between Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton, assuming that "A View to a Kill" and "The Living Daylights" actually took place in 1985 and 1987. However, Moore and Dalton are obviously the same Bond, as the death of Tracy is mentioned in reference to both of them, and they are both good friends with David Hedison's Felix Leiter.


FIFTH KNOWN NAMESAKE (Pierce Brosnan)
Organization: MI-6

GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)

* Earliest known mission was in 1987, during which crooked agent Alex Trevelyan (006) faked his own death.
* Born sometime during the 1960's.
* Assassinated Colonel Moon in the early 21st century, and because of this spent a year of torture in a Korean prison, abandoned by his superiors. (Given the possible reference to Bond's lack of knowledge of 9/11 in "Die Another Day", it is assumed that Bond's prison sentence occurred from 2001 to 2002.)


SIXTH KNOWN NAMESAKE (Daniel Craig)
Organization: MI-6

Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum Of Solace (2008)
[as yet untitled] (2010)
[as yet untitled] (2012?)

* Received his double-O status in 2006.
* Had a chip injected into his arm for tracking purposes.
* Bankrupted Le Chiffre (no known relation to Bond's other enemies of that name) at poker. After failing to turn over his winnings to Le Chiffre, he was brutally tortured, and had to be hospitalized due to the testicular injuries he received during the torture process.
* Took an extended leave after his first mission to build a romantic relationship with Vesper Lynd, whose relationship to Evelyn Tremble's assassin of that name is unknown. Like her 1967 namesake, Vesper also turned out to be working for the other side. Out of the grief she felt for having betrayed Bond, she successfully committed suicide despite Bond's rescue attempt.

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Now, if you're a hardcore Bond fan, you might be asking yourself... what about Barry Nelson, who starred in the first-ever Bond movie, the 1954 version of "Casino Royale"?

Simply put, this one (an American secret agent, working for an organization called Combined Intelligence) doesn't seem to have any relation to the string of English secret agents described above. Combined Intelligence did, however, work alongside the Her Majesty's Secret Service, partnering this James with an English agent named Clarence Leiter. Of course, in all later films (and indeed in the novels that spawned them), the situation is reversed - James Bond is the English agent, while Leiter, who from "Dr. No" onwards kept his literary first name of Felix, is working for the American CIA.

Though it is unique among the non-English Bond films, as it is now recognized as being part of the series, trying to fit the Americanized "Casino Royale" into the ongoing Bond canon is about as sensical as, say, finding an explanation for the Indian-made "James Bond 777" or the Chinese-made "From Beijing With Love." They're all just too far removed from the English James Bonds to be related story-wise.