The Ultimate James Bond Theory Comes to Life in Dark Horse's BANG! by Nikhil Clayton

The Ultimate James Bond Theory Comes to Life in Dark Horse’s BANG! –

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Bang!, by Matt Kindt, Wilfredo Torres, Hayoung Kim and Nate Piekos, on sale now from Dark Horse Comics.

When Daniel Craig became James Bond it was a part of a soft reboot of the entire franchise, where old villains and heroes were reintroduced as if for the first time. Before this, however, all of the Bond films were intended to as part of one franchise. The change in the actors was never mentioned, though the events of films helmed by other actors were still canonical elements of backstory. This is seen the most clearly with the existence — or rather, death — of Bond’s wife, Tracy. In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, James Bond gets married and his wife is tragically murdered by villain Blofeld. This event is referenced explicitly in You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only and License to Kill, with later films also making more subtle nods to the event.

However, in the same film in which Tracy Bond dies, George Lazenby utters the line, “This never happened to the other fella,” and inspired the beginning of a wildly popular fan theory. Nicknamed the Ultimate James Bond Theory, many fans believe James Bond is the agent’s true code name, not 007, and that it is handed down to all of the different men who take on the role after the previous version’s death.

If true, the theory would explain why the supposedly secret agent so freely gives out his name and why the character remains around the same age despite decades going by. The many other catchphrases and trademarks of the character — the martinis and the philandering, for example — are all dismissed as part of occupying the James Bond title. Though it is not clear if the theory holds any weight in the actual world of James Bond films, it is certainly still an interesting thought. In fact, it was so interesting that writer Matt Kindt and artist Wilfredo Torres have used it as a springboard for their new Dark Horse comic Bang!.

Bang! begins in the middle of a standard spy novel, with super spy Thomas Cord taking out a bunch of random thugs and escaping onto a yacht. On the yacht he recognizes a sexy young woman named Fanny and, just as he is undoing his shirt and pulling her closer, she kills him. The comic then cuts to a different man, also named Thomas Cord, finishing the mission the original character was tasked with and going to the home of the author Phillip Verve. Upon arriving at the home, Cord is promptly drugged, and he begins to question the world around him. He wonders how he is able to remember fighting in the ’60s and ’70s, despite only being 30 years old in the modern day. Verve tells him that he has been brainwashed and that he is just one of many Thomas Cords who think they are real. To make things even worse, Verve then reveals a copy of a book that he wrote that details the exact adventure that killed the earlier Cord.

The comic dares to ask the question about what a fictional universe would look like if the Bond fan theory was true. In order to maintain continuity, the brand of Bond — or, in this case, Cord — would have to be preserved through maniacal means. In the context of this world, it is implied that MI-X (even more secret than MI-6) has been brainwashing agents into thinking that they had the same memories and past as all those that came before them. However, Bang! takes blurring reality and fiction to another level by then forcing their hero to question whether or not he exists in a world of fiction.

Bang! #2 releases March 18 from Dark Horse Comics.

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This information appeared first at https://www.cbr.com/james-bond-theory-bang/