If you hadn't guessed by the title, this article contains spoilers from No Time To Die.
James Bond is one of those characters you expect to live forever. And up until now, he has. But ironically, No Time To Die did in fact see Daniel Craig's character die at the end of the film.
The reviews were mixed on Craig's final performance, with some critics suggesting the last Daniel Craig movie was 'trying too hard.' Not giving any spoilers away at the time, we now know what they meant by that as Bond's death isn't a welcome plot twist from fans.
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So did James Bond really die? Has he ever died before? Will we even have a 'next James Bond'?
How did James Bond die in No Time To Die?
People seem to think the plot of NTTD was changed due to the pandemic. In Craig's final Bond movie, he's up against a bioweapon which was developed off the books in MI6 to target rogue agents. Unfortunately, it gets into the wrong hands and Safin (Rami Malek) turns an old WW2 military base somewhere between Japan and Russia into a mass bioweapon production plant.
The final scenes of NTTD see Bond set out to shut down Safin's biolab before the disease gets out and destroys the human race.
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Having rescued Madeleine and Mathilde (his secret daughter) and put them on a boat to safety with the new 007 (Lashana Lynch), Bond stays behind to open the silo doors to Safin's lab so that the nuclear missiles can enter and destroy it.
He leaves Matilde with his jumper to keep her warm and says to Madeleine, "I need to finish this, for us." After a heartfelt kiss goodbye, Bond heads back into the plant to ensure it's destroyed.
Having opened the doors, Q and M give the go-ahead to the navy to fire the missiles, which gives Bond nine minutes to get off the island. But as he runs downstairs to make his escape, the silo doors close and he has to head back to open them again.
Unfortunately, he's met by Safin in his poison garden on the way and a scrap in the pond causes the strange vial we saw Safin wearing earlier smash. The vial, we learn, contains the manmade disease which has been programmed to kill Madeleine. Bond and Saffin become infected with the incurable disease, meaning Bond will never be able to go near Madeleine or Mathilde again, because coming into contact with them would kill them.
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Bond shoots Saffin dead and then races up to open the doors again, but upon realising he'll never be able to be with Madeleine or his daughter again, accepts his fate and radios them to say his final goodbyes. He opens the doors and the missiles strike the plant, killing Bond in the process.
Has James Bond ever died before?
No. James Bond has never died in a film before. He's had countless near-death experiences and he was believed to be dead at the end of Skyfall, but never actually died.
Is James Bond really dead?
It would appear so, but some film critics and fans refuse to accept it and think there might be a small chance he wasn't completely blown to pieces by the missile strike. The odds aren't looking good on that though, even for Bond.
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We've known since the early days of NTTD that this would be the last time we saw Daniel Craig in the role, but the last time we see James Bond? Surely not
Some have suggested that future Bond films would probably have to be named '007' as the number lives on, but Bond ceases to exist. We've already seen that in NTTD as Lashana Lynch is assigned the number. Although Barbara Broccoli, the film's producer, has said James Bond will not be played by a female, she didn't say anything about the 007 number being assigned to a female.
While we wait for confirmation about the future of James Bond, here's how to watch all of the Bond movies, including Daniel Craig's, in order.Featured Image Credit: PATopics: TV and Film, Daniel Craig, James Bond