No Time to Die appears to be borrowing a lot of narrative elements from Spectre, despite the film’s poor reception. No Time to Die was revealed to be Daniel Craig’s final appearance as James Bond, after years of speculations that he would be leaving the role. It appears that the finale of his five-film run will be intimately connected to the films that came before it, particularly Spectre. But why retain such a strong bond with a film that was largely seen as a flop?

The retcons in Spectre came thick and fast, and the strange manner they hurriedly linked all of the prior Craig films together has been a major cause of contention. Spectre, on the other hand, built such a large-scale, overarching continuity for Craig’s time as 007 that it’s virtually difficult for No Time to Die to avoid having to deal with it. Blofeld is just too famous a Bond villain, and SPECTRE is far too important a narrative element, for them to be left out of Craig’s final 007 adventure.

It’s unclear how large of a part SPECTRE will play in No Time to Die at this point, but given how much of an influence the organization has had on Bond throughout his life and the presence of Blofeld in a key capacity, it must be substantial. The film doesn’t have to stick to everything that happened in Spectre, but it wouldn’t be wise to disregard or retcon what the picture did to Craig’s Bond canon. Bond’s love interest Madeleine Swann’s history with SPECTRE is also important to her tale, since her father, Mr. White, was a key member, and those links are expected to be explored more in the next film.

In some aspects, the parallels between No Time to Die and Spectre might be beneficial. The new film might make the various twists and discoveries of Spectre more credible with extra, more eloquent exposition, and Waltz’s disappointing Blofeld may be redeemed in a movie with a stronger script. In any case, No Time to Die appears to be a thrilling finale to Craig’s James Bond tenure, and SPECTRE is an unavoidable element of that tale.

No Time To Die: Final trailer released After 18 months of delays

James Bond wears Tom Ford’s knitted sleeve bomber jacket.
Courtesy of Sony

We’ve been waiting for you, Mr Bond… for a long time.

In the last teaser for No Time to Die, Daniel Craig leaves the James Bond series with a resounding boom.

After 18 months of pandemic-related delays, Daniel Craig’s final appearance in the character, No Time To Die, will be released in theaters on September 30.

‘The wait is over,’ starts the teaser clip for No Time To Die, which is fitting.

Craig’s farewell turn as the famed secret agent is marked by a new teaser for the long-awaited 25th film in the 007 franchise, and the teaser pays magnificent respect to his time kicking ass in the famous spy’s suit.

Before a glimpse of new baddie Safin, played by Rami Malek, we see Bond chatting to Spectre nemesis and foster-brother Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), who informs 007 that “my enemy’s your enemy” ‘How did that happen?’

Bond replies with his trademark smirk: ‘Well, you live long enough.’

Cary  Joji Fukunaga’s film begins up after Craig’s Bond has retired from active duty and is enjoying a peaceful life in Jamaica. However, Bond is quickly forced back into action when an old CIA acquaintance, Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), shows up begging for assistance in rescuing an abducted scientist – a plan that thrusts Bond into the middle of a wicked villain’s plot.

M, played by Ralph Fiennes, then speaks with Bond about a new wave of adversary and espionage that is “just floating in the ether”

Bond scouts the enemy with an assault weapon, fires the renowned machine gun turrets on his Aston Martin, and soars through the sky in a jet flown by female double-0 agent Nomi, portrayed by Lashana Lynch, in the high-octane video.

Being James Bond, a new documentary on Craig’s 15-year journey as Bond, will be released with the film. It will be available for free on the Apple TV app from September 7 to October 7, one day before the release of No Time to Die in cinemas.

There are also signs of problems between Bond and his lover, Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), as well as friction with Nomi, the new 00 agent who inherited Bond’s 007 moniker after he left MI6.

Safin, portrayed by Oscar winner Rami Malek and equipped with facial scars and an eerie white mask, is the major villain in Craig’s sixth outing as Bond.

The film also stars Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Christoph Waltz, and Ralph Fiennes.