Alternate James Bond Continuity Theories

As I mentioned last week, fans of the James Bond 007 series are pretty dedicated and creative, enough to come up with such fan theories as the Code Name Theory. As promised, I'm going to go over some other 007 chronology theories today: not because I think any of them are valid, but because they seem rather interesting and fun. Let's take a look.

The Dual Timelines Theory

   One theory I've heard is that the ending to On Her Majesty's Secret Service spawned two separate alternate universes. The first splits directly into the Roger Moore era, in which Bond was able to keep his rage and anguish from losing Tracey under control. That's why the James Bond of the Roger Moore era is so lighthearted and pleasant; it's his way of coping with it. Once he finally, and rather luckily, got his revenge on Blofeld in the opening of For Your Eyes Only, he found true closure and happily continued a few more years until his retirement after A View to a Kill.

   The alternate timeline picks up at The Living Daylights. In this version Tracey's death led to Bond being consumed with anger and the drive for revenge. This accounts for why Timothy Dalton's Bond is so ruthless and intense. This timeline continues to the end of the Brosnan era. (The Daniel Craig era is presumably a different universe altogether.)

   This is a pretty interesting theory. The only problem though is that it doesn't account for the events of Diamonds Are Forever. Which timeline does that one belong to, if any?

Tying Up Loose Ends

   Another theory I've heard is that James Bond is indeed a codename passed down successively through agents, but each new 007 appointee is given a file detailing their predecessor's activities. This is so that each new agent can tie up the loose ends of his predecessor. This explains why Connery's Bond is so obsessed with finding Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever. Perhaps Lazenby's Bond just couldn't handle seeing his wife killed and quit the service, thus forcing Connery to return from extended leave to finish this one last mission. This explains why Blofeld doesn't recognize Bond in OHMSS. Also according to this theory, Lazenby's Bond wasn't reminiscing over the gadgets in his office; he was wondering what they were. He hadn't been agent 007 for long, so it may be possible that he hadn't fully cleaned out Connery's junk from his office yet.

   As for Blofeld, one could argue that that name is also passed down along to the next highest ranking Spectre agent: number two, number three, etc.

   While this is a pretty creative idea, it's a bit too convoluted to take seriously. I'd like to think that both Bond and Blofeld are the same guys they've always been.

The Spirit of Bond

   I've seen a couple comments saying that Bond's character is always the same, it's just that his consciousness switches bodies...OK. So 007's spirit floats around and possesses the bodies of already-grown men after leaving the body it's possessed for the past decade or so? Then whose consciousness was it originally? Is that man still alive? Is it Ian Fleming's? Is each host's body already an MI6 agent? What happens to the host body after the spirit leaves? Did it possess Connery twice then? This is just weird.

Daniel Craig's Bond is Connery Bond's Son

   Think about it, man. In real life Craig was born in 1968, when Bondmania was at its height. Perhaps Craig's Bond is the illegitimate son of Connery's Bond, named after his father. He then grew up wanting nothing more than to be a spy. His lifelong training is what allowed him to develop such marvelous skills. Under the watchful eye of Judi Dench's M he is swiftly promoted to 00 status, leading to his cocky attitude in Casino Royale. It makes perfect sense, right? After all, both characters are Scottish! Yes, this is just some crap I cooked up. You got me.

James Bond is a Time Lord

   Yeah, heh heh heh heh heh. No! If you've ever browsed any sort of comments section talking about the Code Name Theory then you've probably seen this joke about 10,000 times. And no, it doesn't get any funnier the 10,001^st time. Also, I'm not from the UK; I couldn't care less about Doctor Who. So I've got a better idea...

James Bond is an Immortal à la Highlander

   It's brilliant, isn't it? The only downside is that he's only ever been in one sword fight (Die Another Day). Future movies should have a long-haired Bond get in epic swordfights and slicing dudes' freaking heads off while hard rock music blasts. I wanna see more of that in the sequels!