The release of No Time to Die, the twenty-fifth James Bond movie, is just around the corner - and with it rumors of Bond's replacement. In the world of Ian Fleming's Bond, 00 status is bestowed upon agents of MI6 (aka Secret Intelligence Service), the British intelligence agency tasked with overseas espionage duties, with a "license to kill" in the field. This concept was introduced in 1953 in Fleming's novel Casino Royale, along with the arrival of James Bond, an MI6 agent with the designation of 007.
Over the years multiple agents have been shown using the same 00 designation. In 1974's The Man With the Golden Gun, 002 was assassinated by Christopher Lee's Scaramanga, but another agent designated 002 is part of the training exercise at the beginning of 1987's The Living Daylights. An agent called 009 was killed in Octopussy, and another 009 appeared in The World Is Not Enough. However, recently a big topic of discussion has been the mantle of 007, and other agents who might lay claim to it.
There have been rumors about the new character Nomi, played by Lashana Lynch, being given the designation 007 in No Time to Die, following James Bond's leaving active service. While this is yet to be officially confirmed, it does raise questions about who else may have been 007 before James Bond. The answer lies in the 2018 novel Forever and a Day, a prequel to the Casino Royale book.
Following the death of Ian Fleming, the novels continued with new authors, and the latest releases have been using ideas Fleming created for a Bond television show that never happened. In 2018, writer Anthony Horowitz told the story of Bond becoming a 00 agent following the death of someone already designated 007 in the novel Forever and a Day, incorporating some of Fleming's unused material. The unnamed operative was killed on an assignment in France, and when no other agents were available to investigate 007's murder and finish his final mission in the Corsican underworld, M sent James Bond. The young agent had been trained by SIS for 00 service, but had yet to attain the status himself. Very little information about the deceased agent is provided, aside from the fact that he was one of the initial 00 operatives and the first to hold 007, he had an affinity for Saville Row suits, and was a personal friend of James Bond. When it came time for Bond to receive his 00 designation, he asked to be given 007 in remembrance of his fallen friend.
Whether this 007 will appear in the films depends on a few factors. If Nomi is, in fact, the 007 that replaces Bond, there is a possibility of the original 007 being at least acknowledged in No Time to Die, as a way to explain how the process works. The most likely way to see this agent on-screen is if it is decided to do another reboot following Daniel Craig's departure from Bond. While the first movie, Dr. No, introduced Bond as a fully formed agent, Craig's Casino Royale began with him achieving 00 status, so adding more to that origin story wouldn't really work unless the franchise was completely rebooted.
In a short span, audiences have been introduced to the original 007 in Forever and a Day and a possible replacement in No Time to Die. It is all interesting timing with Daniel Craig's departure from Bond looming, leaving a sense of uncertainty of what is left to come.