James Bond (Daniel Craig) died at the end of No Time To Die but there have been other instances throughout the franchise when James Bond dies. With No Time To Die, Daniel Craig completed the fifth and final film of his incredibly popular and successful run as James Bond. Craig's 007 exists in a separate universe and his movie cycle, from Casino Royale to No Time To Die, tells a complete, serialized story that ends with the British secret agent's noble death. Before Daniel Craig's reinvention of 007, James Bond's invincibility was baked into the character. Bond always won in the end, no matter what manner of death trap the megalomaniacal villains he faces could conjure.
In the original James Bond movie continuity, which spans from Sean Connery's Bond in 1962's Dr. No to Pierce Brosnan in 2002's Die Another Day, 007 was never beaten and never really died. And yet, in some Bond movies, circumstances were contrived where James Bond was either believed to be killed or his death was faked as part of a scheme by the British Secret Service. The idea of 007 dying cropped up early in the franchise and was a running theme throughout Sean Connery's run as James Bond. The original James Bond actor had a love/hate relationship with the role that made him a global superstar. Connery's movies had the most instances of James Bond 'dying' than any other actor. He left the role after 1971's Diamonds Are Forever. After Roger Moore's long James Bond tenure, followed by Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, James Bond wasn't placed in a circumstance again where he was alleged to have died from most of the 1970s until the end of Brosnan's run in the early 2000s. This changed when Daniel Craig rebooted James Bond to be more flawed starting in 2006's origin story, Casino Royale.
From Russia With Love (1963)
The first time James Bond dies is when Sean Connery was still in the role. Franchise highlight From Russia With Love literally begins with James Bond's 'death' and it is the first depiction of 007 dying on-screen, although it is soon revealed to be a fakeout. From Russia With Love begins with 007 and one of the film's villains, Red Grant (Robert Shaw), hunting each other through a hedge maze. Grant gets the drop on Bond and garrotes him to death, but the British secret agent is quickly revealed to be an imposter when Grant removes his victim's James Bond mask. The entire scenario iss a training exercise set on SPECTRE Island, and it is Grant's successful 'audition' for the job of assassinating James Bond as SPECTRE's revenge for the death of Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman). Sean Connery portrays the false James Bond in the scene until he is killed by Grant.
You Only Live Twice (1967)
You Only Live Twice's title alludes to how James Bond is 'killed' at the start of the film when 007 is in Hong Kong making love to a woman who immediately betrays him. Bond is plunged into a trap where the bed he's laying in springs into a wall as men with machine guns burst into the room. Bond is pinned in the wall as he's 'killed' by the machine gunfire. James Bond's death is publicized with a front-page newspaper obituary before 007 is buried at sea. But Bond's corpse is retrieved by MI6, and he's revealed to be alive and well.
Bond's 'death' is merely a ruse meant to fool his enemies so 007 can begin his mission in Japan investigating the disappearance of space capsules. It's notable that James Bond is a British Naval Commander in his obituary, which makes sense since MI6 would not publicize him as a Double-0 agent with a license to kill. But You Only Live Twice is the first instance acknowledging that James Bond is 'famous,' as opposed to a secret agent whose identity is closely guarded.
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery's sixth and final canonical appearance as James Bond (before he played 007 once more in 1983's Never Say Never Again) features many jokes about 007 'dying.' In pursuit of a diamond smuggling ring, Bond poses as Peter Franks (Joe Robinson) and makes contact with his supplier, Tiffany Case (Jill St. John). When the real Franks arrives, Bond has to kill him, but he also places his wallet in Franks' pocket to maintain his cover. After Tiffany searches for the dead man's identification, she gasps, "You've just killed James Bond!" 007 retorts, "Is that who that was? It just goes to show no one is invincible." This joke also continues the idea that James Bond is a famous spy. Later in Diamonds Are Forever, there's another in-joke about James Bond's death when 007 is placed in a coffin and sent into a cremation oven, which he, of course, survives.
Die Another Day (2002)
Although James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) doesn't die in Die Another Day, he is disavowed and left for dead by MI6 at the start of the film. 007 is captured by the North Korean Army and imprisoned for fourteen months before Bond is released as part of a prisoner exchange. Although Bond is alive in the Die Another Day opening, he is also tortured and abused in prison by the North Korean soldiers. Bond is unable to escape while M (Judi Dench) and MI6 believe 007 leaked information under duress. Bond's imprisonment by the North Koreans could possibly have led to his death had he not been freed, and the title Die Another Day alludes to how Bond is lucky to escape certain death. Still, imprisonment in North Korea is the most dire predicament James Bond faces in any of Pierce Brosnan's 007 movies.
Skyfall (2012)
James Bond (Daniel Craig) 'dies' by friendly fire at the start of Skyfall. During a mission in Turkey, M (Judi Dench) orders Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) to shoot in Bond's direction while he fights an enemy agent despite Moneypenny not having a clear shot. Moneypenny misses the villain and hits Bond, who falls from the roof of a train into the river below. Bond is posted as "missing and presumed killed." Though James survives, he lives off the grid for three months as he heals and Bond considers himself retired from MI6. 007 only returns to London when he learns of the cyberattacks by Silva (Javier Bardem), but Bond is also a shell of himself physically since his 'death' and he fails his initial exams to return to active duty.
No Time To Die (2021)
In No Time To Die, James Bond finally dies. Bond and Nomi (Lashana Lynch) infiltrate the secret island headquarters of Safin (Rami Malek), who plans to use a nanobot bioweapon called Project Heracles to murder millions. Bond orders missiles to destroy the island but before 007 can escape, Safin shoots Bond and injects him with a virus specifically targeted to the DNA of Bond's lover, Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), and their four-year-old daughter, Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet). Bond chooses to remain on the island as it is annihilated by missiles rather than escape and risk infecting Madeleine and Mathilde, which would cause their immediate death. In the first and only time that James Bond actually dies on-screen, the ending of No Time To Die sees James Bond sacrifice his life to protect the woman he loves and his only daughter.
"James Bond" Being A Code Name Links All Of His Deaths
Daniel Craig's 007 dies at the end of No Time To Die, but there can still be a James Bond 26. Many actors have portrayed the titular spy, and a popular theory means that Craig's James Bond death can be canon without ending the franchise. The theory is that "James Bond 007" is a codename shared by multiple secret agents over the years, just like M, Q, etc. James Bond's "deaths", both real and fake, make sense under this remarkably plausible way of viewing the franchise. It also explains why so many actors have played James Bond, as well as why he hasn't aged despite being in Her Majesty's Secret Service for decades. According to the theory, every James Bond actor is playing a different person using the same codename.
At some point, the unidentified man using the James Bond 007 codename played by Sean Connery retires, only to be replaced by a new spy who takes the pseudonym played by George Lazenby. The theory also gives Lazenby's briefness a canonical explanation — Lazenby's Bond died after On Her Majesty's Secret Service, so Connery's 007 had to return while a suitable replacement (Roger Moore) was found. Moore's James Bond dies years later after A View To A Kill, being replaced by whoever Timothy Dalton's incredibly dark character was before becoming James Bond 007, and so on. Daniel Craig's death at the end of No Time To Die, then, simply marks the point that a new agent will take on the James Bond name as well as the 007 code.