Daniel Craig’s Last James Bond Girl Is the Most Underrated of His 007 Films

Daniel Craig James Bond dated a handful of Bond girls in his five 007 films, but the most underrated is Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). Craig rebooted 007 in 2006 Royal Casino and became the longest-serving James Bond actor with his latest film, 2021 There is no time to die. As James Bond, Craig took the 007 franchise to new heights of box office success and popularity with the 2012 film Fall from the sky raising over a billion dollars worldwide.

Part of Daniel Craig’s reinvention of James Bond was moving the Bond Girls into the 21st century. Bond girls have traditionally been sex objects and eye candy. Although they often partnered with 007 on his adventures, Bond Girls were also portrayed as sex toys for James, who moved on to the next in each film. Just as Craig’s James Bond films probed his emotional depths and vulnerabilities, your Bond girls were given more agency and was heavily factored into James’ growth as a character. But Craig’s last Bond Girl is ultimately his most important, even if she is overshadowed by the first.

Why Dr Madeleine Swann Is Daniel Craig’s Most Underrated Bond Girl

There is no Bond Girl like Madeleine Swann

Madeleine Swann is the most important yet underrated Bond Girl in Daniel Craig’s James Bond films. Introduced in 2015 SpectrumMadeleine was a psychiatrist in a private clinic in the Austrian Alps. Unlike most Bond girls, Dr. Swann had an intriguing story: Madeleine was the daughter of 007’s enemy and Specter agent, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen). There’s no time to die revealed that young Madeleine survived an assassination attempt by Lyutsifer Safin (Ram Malek), another enemy of White and Spectre.

Madeleine rejected the life of thieves and murderers into which she was born, but she was also a tough and capable adversary for James Bond. Naturally, Bond and Madeleine fell in love and Dr. Swann is the only character in James Bond history to have a child with hima daughter named Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet). Madeleine was the ideal foil for Daniel Craig’s Bond, and the fact that she was the main Bond Girl in two 007 films proves her impact. However, Madeleine is not hailed as Craig’s best Bond Girl and is not as remembered as her original, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green).

Why Vesper Lynd is Daniel Craig’s most popular Bond Girl

Vesper’s memory still haunts Bond with no time to die

Vesper Lynd looks set to remain the definitive Bond Girl of Daniel Craig’s James Bond era. Introduced in Royal CasinoVesper was a Treasury contact sent to oversee the funds Her Majesty’s government granted 007 for his high-stakes poker operation against Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). Vesper was the first woman Craig’s Bond truly lovedand he was devastated when Vesper lied and betrayed Bond because she was being blackmailed by Quantum. Bond was unable to save Vesper, who died in Venice, and this turned 007 into a cold-blooded killer.

Eva Green lit up the screen alongside Daniel Craig in Royal Casinoand it’s certainly understandable why Vesper is etched in the public’s mind – as well as 007’s heart – as Craig’s definitive Bond Girl. Vesper was a tragic figure who still haunted Bond in There’s no time to diewith James trying to ease his memory at Madeleine Swann’s request. Vesper was also much more emotionally complex than previous Bond Girls. The fact that James Bond was unable to save Vesper makes her a key aspect of Craig’s version of 007, and it’s safe to say that audiences loved Vesper as much as Bond.

M was the real Bond Girl from Skyfall

Daniel Craig’s Bond loved M

Fall from the sky it was the heyday of Daniel Craig’s James Bond as a box office success, and it was the swan song of Judi Dench’s tenure as M. While Fall from the sky had a traditional Bond Girl in Sévérine (Bérénice Marlohe and introduced Naomi Harris as the rebooted version of Eve Moneypenny, it was Dench’s M who was Fall from the skyis the real Bond Girl. James spent the second half of Fall from the sky protecting M from Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), a cyber-terrorist who once worked for M. Ultimately, Bond was unable to save M, and it was the tragic end of their relationship where M was both a surrogate mother figure for James and his supervisor.

Judi Dench crossed over from the James Bond timeline to return as M in Royal Casino. Dench became M in 1995 GoldenEye and played the head of MI6 in all four of Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond films. However, M took a harsher stance towards Brosnan’s 007, initially referring to him as a “sexist, misogynistic dinosaur.” In turn, M was labeled “the evil queen of numbers.” Daniel Craig’s James Bond films reinvented M to be much closer to and more supportive of 007 maintaining professional distance and objectivity at the same time. M’s death was a loss for James Bond that almost equaled his disgust for Vesper Lynd.

Ana De Armas’ Paloma didn’t steal Madeleine Swann’s time to die

Everyone fell in love with Paloma

There’s no time to die brought back Madeleine Swann as the mother of James Bond’s daughter and introduced Nomi (Lashana Lynch) as the new MI6 agent with a license to kill designated 007, but it was Paloma (Ana De Armas) who stole There’s no time to die of all the other women in the film. Introduced as a CIA agent fresh from five weeks of training, Paloma helped Bond break into and hack his way through a Specter party in Cuba. Ana De Armas was an effervescent delight as Paloma, and she was equally sexy and deadly taking out Specter agents alongside Bond. It was actually quite disappointing that Paloma only had a small role to play There is no time to die.

Ana De Armas was so popular in There’s no time to diethe public was clamoring for a Paloma spinoff. Instead, Ana De Armas used her secret agent skills as new characters in 2022 The Gray Mandirected by Joe and Anthony Russo, and the upcoming spinoff From the world of John Wick: ballerinadirected by Len Wiseman. Paloma was such a dizzying and unforgettable presence in There’s no time to die, it’s understandable that she overshadowed Madeleine Swann and her more serious role in Daniel Craig’s latest Bond film. Yet the underrated Dr. Madeleine Swann not only became the mother of James Bond’is a son, but There’s no time to die fortunately spared her from the tragic death that Tracy Bond (Diana Rigg) suffered in In Her Majesty’s Secret Service.