8) More 00 Agents
Even though James Bond is 007, we’ve seen him encounter precious few other 00 agents across the fifty-plus year history of the franchise. Instead, it’s become something of a running joke that these agents would be referenced or maybe briefly glimpsed in the movies, without becoming major players. The one exception to this is Sean Bean’s character, Alec Trevelyan AKA 006, in GoldenEye – and he’s since gone down as one of the best Bond villains ever. I think that proves that we need to see more 00s turn up in the franchise in the future, don’t you?
In Spectre, for instance, Bond stole an Aston Martin DB10 that Q had designed specifically for 006 (presumably not Sean Bean). Wouldn’t it be fun if we got to meet this agent in Bond 25? Maybe there could even be a rivalry between the two? It must be difficult operating in Bond’s shadow, after all. The best option would probably be to make this other 00 a woman, given all the talk recently of a female Bond.
As the series stands, it’s always been faintly ridiculous that James Bond is literally the only MI6 agent who ever seems to get assigned any vaguely important cases. With the increased role for M, Moneypenny and Q in recent movies, it would make a lot of sense if we could actually get to know some other field agents as well.
7) Felix Leiter Returns
Though not a name which is particularly well-known with casual viewers, Felix Leiter is one of the most enduring characters in the James Bond franchise. Four out of the six Bonds so far have encountered the American agent, who’s usually portrayed as James’ best friend.
After the character was retired in a gruesome fashion back in 1988’s License to Kill, Leiter was rebooted for 2005’s Casino Royale, now played by Jeffrey Wright. For the first time, we saw the initial meeting between James and Felix, and it teased how the pair would become firm allies in the future.
And then, bar an appearance in 2007’s Quantum of Solace, Wright’s Leiter completely disappeared from the franchise. He got a brief namecheck in Spectre (Bond tells Lucia Sciarra to contact him for protection), but that was about it. This is a great shame, as Felix can be a brilliant foil for Bond and, as we’ve just discussed, is one of the rare other secrets agents we get to become acquainted with.
Wright – nowadays known for playing Bernard in Westworld – is also excellent in the role, perhaps the best of the eight Leiters we’ve seen so far, so it seems a big shame to waste him if they have the opportunity to include the actor.
