As it was, Martin Campbell’s 2006 movie was already a tonal 180 from his earlier work on Goldeneye, and making the movie even darker would have left fans disinterested in a Bond who didn’t even resemble his earlier incarnations. In its most brutal moment, Casino Royale violently upended this trend by establishing that Bond was mortal and even his most powerful enemies like Le Chiffre could be swiftly felled with a bullet to the head, a shocking twist that changed the tone of the series for the remainder of Craig’s time playing the character.Īdding in Vesper’s novel suicide by overdose would have been too much darkness too fast for the James Bond franchise, and would have made Casino Royale an unbearably bleak viewing experience for fans expecting an escapist 007 adventure. The Bond of the ‘90s embraced his inherent absurdity and, by the time the invisible car of Die Another Day rolled around, was scarcely less ludicrous than his cinematic contemporary Austin Powers. In the original novel Casino Royale, Vesper Lynd commits suicide via overdose without saving Bond’s life, a far darker ending that the movie was right to cut out.īetween Le Chiffre’s sudden, brutal death and Vesper’s eventual, more tragic death, Casino Royale’s Bourne-style brutality was already upping the ante of the franchise considerably from the campy theatrics of the Pierce Brosnan era. The darker, Bourne-influenced Craig-era Bond movie did kill off Vesper Lynd in its closing scenes, but the scene occurs via a drowning that 007 can’t save the character from.

It is strange to see 007 so forlorn about a romantic betrayal when campier earlier takes on the character expected treachery from their paramours as an inevitability, but fortunately, Casino Royale stopped short of keeping the source novel’s devastating death for Vesper.

Bond ends up madly in love with Vesper, and his discovery that she is a double agent is a genuine shock to the character. Related: James Bond Should Hide Blofeld Again After No Time To Dieĭuring Casino Royale’s action, Craig’s untested rookie agent meets and falls for Vesper Lynd when she is assigned to ensure he keeps an eye on the villainous Le Chiffre at a high-stakes poker tournament.

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