The Daniel Craig era of James Bond movies will go down as one of the most successful periods in the franchise’s history. Despite missteps with Quantum of Solace and Spectre, the overall tone and direction of Craig’s 007 redefined the character at a time when change was sorely needed.
Daniel Craig’s Bond also leaves a legacy of rule-breaking behind him. The spy’s characterization in those five films proved far more nuanced than prior efforts – softer in places, darker in others, and almost always deeper. From the Casino Royale shower scene to becoming a father in No Time to Die, Craig accentuated Bond’s human element.
In its effort to break the traditional mold, however, James Bond skipped over the most important period of the character’s career during the Daniel Craig movies.
Daniel Craig Never Played James Bond In His Prime
In an attempt to reinvent the franchise, Casino Royale broke away from the usual looseness of James Bond canon to depict a newly-minted double-0 agent. The mission was literally Bond’s first outing as 007, and that inexperience informed both the plot and Daniel Craig’s performance.
Quantum of Solace then picked up almost immediately after Casino Royale‘s ending, meaning Daniel Craig was still playing a relatively green secret agent during his second movie.
The Quantum of Solace timeline is somewhat murky, as the date on Greene’s party invitation is written as 2008, not 2006 (when Casino Royale takes place). This was most likely a production oversight. Even if a subtle time skip had occurred, it couldn’t be as large as two years because Quantum of Solace relies heavily on following in the immediate aftermath of its predecessor. Given the infamously messy production Quantum of Solace endured, a prop mistake isn’t out of the question.
The next movie, however, treated Bond like an MI6 veteran on the verge of retirement. Skyfall dragged Bond back to active duty with a series of tests he barely passed, and this marked the first time viewers were encouraged to question whether Craig’s version of the character could be past his prime. The phrase “lost a step” is used by Mallory.
Naturally, the next two movies continued in that same vein. Spectre was touted as Bond’s final mission before retiring in peace with Madeleine Swann, and No Time to Die showed Bond coming out of retirement.
As a result, we never got to see Daniel Craig’s 007 in his prime as a 00-agent. Bond transitioned from brash newcomer to creaking relic between his second and third movies.
Did James Bond Skip An Entire Daniel Craig Movie?
Except for Quantum of Solace following hot on the heels of Casino Royale, the timeline of Daniel Craig’s James Bond movies broadly followed real life.
As a consequence, Quantum of Solace would be canonically set in 2006 and Skyfall would take place circa 2012. This six-year gap would have been James Bond’s prime MI6 years, and yet they happened entirely offscreen. If you subscribe to the notion that Craig’s rebooted Bond experienced everything the previous incarnations did, those six years could have included most of the adventures fans know and love.
Auric Goldfinger, Octopussy, Scaramanga, the invisible car – all of that could have feasibly happened to Craig’s Bond during the blank period between Quantum of Solace and Skyfall.
This would also explain why so much changes between movies. Moneypenny and Q joining the team, the origin of the hard drive Bond is chasing in Skyfall‘s opening scene, the increasing governmental scrutiny of MI6, etc. If you watched all of Daniel Craig’s Bond movies in a row without knowing how many there were, you’d be forgiven for loading up Skyfall and thinking there had been some mistake.
Why It Makes Sense That Daniel Craig’s “Prime” Bond Wasn’t Shown
As we mentioned at the very start, Daniel Craig’s era strove to do Bond differently. Not only by amplifying his more human qualities, but by deliberately swerving the more typical tropes.
From Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan, pretty much every Bond movie prior to Casino Royale featured a version of 007 in his prime years. If Craig’s era was intended as the start of a revolution, this was a pattern that needed to be broken, so showing him as a rookie or a veteran was the only way to go.
That strategy also suited Daniel Craig’s more introspective performance. In each movie, Bond’s persona reflected the career stage he was at.
Being green in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace allowed those movies to explore Bond’s imperfections, his anger, the need for revenge, and his mistakes. Having non-existent knees in Skyfall, Spectre and No Time to Die meant the Bond movies could tell the story of an aging hero gradually being put out to pasture, but also being unable to fully let go. Both angles brought fascinating new shades of 007’s character to the surface.
For Daniel Craig’s character-driven era, the notion of James Bond being in his prime years was redundant. A Bond experienced enough to keep a cool head but young enough to jump off a roof without pulling a muscle wouldn’t have presented anywhere near as many opportunities for character development.
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