Why Mentioning Vesper in No Time To Die Was So Important (2024)

In Daniel Craig's final outing as James Bond, No Time To Die, 007 has moved to Jamaica in the hope of a quiet life after being relieved from active service. Of course, his tranquility is short-lived because his old CIA friend, Felix Leiter, coaxes Bond back into action for another treacherous mission. Rescuing a kidnapped scientist becomes far more dangerous than he could have ever imagined.

The film did a massive service to Daniel Craig's last outing as James Bond by mentioning a character from his first film. In No Time To Die's first act, Bond is in Matera, Italy, with his new love interest: Madeleine Swann. During that time, he visits the grave of Vesper Lynd. As fans recall, Vesper, played by Eva Green, appeared in Casino Royale as the most notorious Bond girl (possibly until Agent Paloma) to act alongside Craig. They had an admittedly complex relationship, especially because Vesper lied and cheated to fraternize with the enemy and put Bond's life on the line. However, in Casino Royale's climax, Vesper pays the ultimate price for betrayal.

Updated on June 17, 2024, by Natasha Elder: While filming the next James Bond film set to begin this summer at the earliest, we thought it best to return to why Vesper is such an intriguing character, as well as how her time as Bond's romantic love interest set the tone for the rest of the franchise. As the love interest with the biggest impact, seeing Vesper's name come up in No Time To Die felt fitting. We wanted to further explore her influence, as well as what separates her from Madeleine Swann.

Why Vesper Lynd Betrayed Bond in Casino Royale

Vesper Lynd Is Revealed To Be Working With Le Chiffre — But There's A Catch

During the events of Casino Royale, James Bond finds himself instantly drawn to Vesper Lynd, whom he meets on a train to Montenegro. She is a foreign liaison agent from the HM Treasury's Financial Action Task Force whose job was to make sure that Bond didn't waste the money he was given to gamble with. After enduring horrific torture at the hands of Le Chiffre, the two found themselves falling desperately in love with one another. Their feelings proved so powerful that Bond actually planned to resign from MI6 in order to build a future with her. However, in a shocking twist, Vesper betrays Bond later on in the film, embezzling money to save his life. It is later revealed that she had been threatened with Bond's death if she didn't acquiesce to Le Chiffre's demands.

• Vesper Lynd is portrayed by Eva Green, who is known for her work in Penny Dreadful, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and 300: The Rise of an Empire.

No Time to Die included a reminder of this crucial scene early on to remind Bond (and the audience) that love is a dangerous game. As the once proud action hero reflects in front of Vesper's tomb, he retrieves a piece of paper from his pocket. Bond had written the words "I miss you," which he then sets on fire and tosses in front of Vesper's tomb. This significant moment confirms that Vesper was Bond's greatest love. However, it also serves as a poignant reminder that he will lose those closest to him if he continues on this path of tracking down SPECTRE.

Bond's Love for Vesper Didn't Go Unnoticed by His Enemies

For 007, Love Is the Most Dangerous Weapon of Them All

Unfortunately for him, Bond learns the hard way that others have noticed his continuing love for Vesper when he visits Vesper's tomb, only to find that it has been rigged with explosives. When they detonate, SPECTRE assassins ambush him, prompting a classic high-speed chase. Clearly, SPECTRE rigged the tomb in anticipation of Bond's arrival, to grant themselves the element of surprise. Bond's brief moment of weakness and vulnerability nearly resulted in the action hero's utter destruction.

• Daniel Craig has the longest tenure of any actor to play James Bond, starring in five films from 2006 to 2021.

It could have also been SPECTRE's personalized message to Bond that essentially says, "We know all about you and everyone you care about." This alone is an incredibly upsetting and unsettling thought, especially as Bond has tried to replicate the future that was snatched away from him with Madeleine. Unfortunately, as Vesper had kindly reminded him, love comes with a price. For someone like him, there can never truly be a happy ending. Anyone that he loves would immediately have a target on their backs — whether it be Vesper Lynd, Madeleine Swann, or his own daughter.

Vesper Lynd Shows How James Bond Can Evolve

James Bond Learns to Love Thanks to Vesper Lynd

Although many of the installments in Daniel Craig's 007 franchise proved to be controversial, these films managed to give greater depth to James Bond than many of the preceding eras ever did. Vesper Lynd comes to represent one of the most pertinent changes to Bond's character in that she showed that the infamous womanizer was capable of finding true love. Many of the other 007 films in decades past have rarely given much thought to their female characters beyond serving as a brief flame for James Bond to woo and then leave behind in between movies. With Vesper Lynd, however, things were different, and James Bond — of all people — actually found himself wanting to settle down with someone.

• No Time to Die marked a major first for the James Bond franchise by giving the superspy a daughter.

While the beloved British hero has explored the depths of true love before, Daniel Craig's era took this to an entirely different level in the years following Casino Royale. With the introduction of Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann in Spectre, Bond's life changed forever. Her love affair with Bond stretched throughout two films, marking Madeleine as one of very few Bond girls who have appeared in more than one movie. This hints at a steadier romantic life for Bond in future iterations of the character. In fact, audiences may even be surprised to find the MI6 agent to be far less of a womanizer in upcoming films. While this would be a significant detour from previous versions of the character, Daniel Craig's 007 franchise laid the groundwork for this massive change.

Vesper and Madeleine Fill Different Roles

Though They Both Made a Significant Impact

Vesper Lynd and Madeleine Swann are both significant love interests for James Bond. Though he met them under very different circ*mstances, it is clear that both considerably complicated his relationship between love and his duties as a spy for MI6. Madeleine Swann was also the woman James Bond had a child with, further distinguishing her in the overall James Bond lore, as he had never before had a child. Despite this, however, Vesper Lynd still remains at the forefront of Bond's mind, as proven through the "I miss you" he left on her grave.

• Daniel Craig was the one to request Ana de Armas to play Agent Paloma after acting with her in Knives Out, even though No Time to Die came out only four months later.

Vesper's role in James Bond's life remains the biggest, though that does not diminish Madeleine's impact. He contemplated leaving MI6 for Vesper, despite his loyalty to both his job and his country. While he does eventually leave MI6 for Madeleine, his initial relationship with Vesper laid the groundwork for his eventual connection with Madeleine. Additionally, Bond's relationship with Vesper shapes how he approaches his eventual relationship with Madeleine, as he views their connection with more suspicion. When the assassins arrive in Italy in No Time to Die, he is quick to assume that Madeleine is the reason the assassins knew where he was, refusing to hear her out. This is obviously a lingering paranoia from Vesper's betrayal. Clearly, Vesper's betrayal, even though it was for a good reason, impacted his long-term relationships.

It's Time for a New Kind of James Bond

We're Past the Womanizing Superspy Stereotype

Future James Bond movies would do well not to undo all the positive changes that Daniel Craig's era made to the franchise. A character as long-lasting and beloved as James Bond is also bound to have a few qualities that don't age well over the years. In the case of the iconic British superspy, James Bond has always been a womanizer and a scoundrel. However, thanks to the changes made to Bond's character by the likes of Vesper Lynd and Madeleine Swann, this doesn't have to be a part of the franchise moving forward. This doesn't mean that James Bond has to be a completely changed character in future iterations. He can still be the closed-off, emotionally unavailable spy that audiences know and love without the rampant objectification of every woman he meets. Casino Royale and No Time to Die both proved that Bond can move past these things without changing what fans inherently love about the long-running spy franchise.

• Aaron Taylor Johnson, who has starred in movies such as Kraven the Hunter, Bullet Train, and Kick-Ass, is rumored to be the front-runner as the next James Bond.

As Daniel Craig's time as Bond comes to its official end, Vesper Lynd will forever remain one of the most significant supporting characters in the franchise. Through her surprisingly deep love for Bond, she helped show the superspy a different side of romance, one which may carry over into other iterations of the character.

James Bond

The James Bond franchise focuses on the titular British Secret Service agent, who has the codename 007.

Created by

Ian Fleming

First Film

Dr. No

Latest Film

No Time to Die

Cast

Daniel Craig , Pierce Brosnan , Sean Connery , Timothy Dalton , Roger Moore , David Niven , George Lazenby

Character(s)

James Bond