I'm partial towards Jeffrey Wright from the Daniel Craig movies, but I'm curious who everyone else likes best?
I find Leiter's death a bit underwhelming in NTTD, particularly compared to Bond's reaction to him being injured in LTK. Bond leaves the Ash lead to Nomi and then does his thing. When he eventually kills Ash, he just mentions Leiter in passing but he seems more temporary pissed of than out for revenge. I think this storyline could have been a little more dramatic.
He was an erstwhile sidekick and as we've seen in LTK and NTTD, James clearly has a close bond (no pun intended) with his American friend. Think of it this way; the first 2 Daniel Craig films had no Q or Moneypenny, but they did have Felix Leiter.
But Leiter was nowhere to be found during the Brosnan era. And yet, they did have another CIA Agent, Jack Wade. What was the reasoning for that?
Just a comment and general observation, but watching Quantum of Solace and hearing Gregg Beam tell Felix Leiter he needs to know he "values his career" before he gets in bed with Dominic Greene, and then fast forward to NTTD and he dies in the ship doing his job. Felix was so good and Jeffrey Wright did such a nice job playing him.
What do you guys think about a spin off series or movie about his young days in the field?
Obviously they recast Bond and M but with the exception of Lazenby only after several movies. With Blofeld and Felix Leiter they seem to be completely recast in every movie. Anyone know why they did that? I find it to be a bit distracting when watching some of these older movies seeing these characters become completely different people constantly
I wish we had gotten to see more of Jeffrey Wright. I wish he had more to do in his appearances.
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CIA agent Felix Leiter is an ally and close friend of James Bond, and has assisted him on many different missions. Despite this, he's rarely an important character, and has been recast with the majority of his appearances. (In all, seven different actors have played the role, with inconsistent results.) He first appeared in Dr. No, portrayed by Jack Lord as a swaggering, physically capable investigator. This portrayal of Felix is probably as close to the literary version as the movies get, but, aside from offering up a little exposition on the conflict, he doesn't really have anything to do (probably because there was no role for Felix in the source novel).
Felix reappeared in Goldfinger, this time played by Cec Linder. He plays a more important role this time, introducing Bond to Goldfinger, keeping tabs on Bond during the investigation, and helping with the foiling of Operation Grand Slam. He was a full ten years older than Sean Connery, however, and, with his gray hair, looked a bit too old in the role.
Felix plays a more proactive role in Thunderball, portrayed ably by Rick Van Nutter. Not only does he help Bond find the hidden atomic warheads, but he rescues Bond from an underwater cave. This time I think it's safe to say that, without Felix, Miami goes kablooey.
After sitting it out for two movies, Felix returned for Diamonds Are Forever. Portrayed by Norman Burton, this Felix is more of a by-the-book government official, and is frequently exasperated by Bond's antics. Combined with his age and physique, this makes him probably the least accurate Felix of them all.
Felix appears in Live and Let Die (his one and only appearance during the Roger Moore era), played by David Hedison, but doesn't do very much of import. He doesn't appear again until The Living Daylights, in which he is portrayed by John Terry. His role is both insignificant and fleeting.
Felix plays his most significant role in Licence To Kill. Once more portrayed by David Hedison (one of only two actors who have returned to the role), Felix provides the impetus for the plot when ruthless drugs baron Franz Sanchez has him mauled by a shark, sending Bond on a crusade for revenge.
Felix was entirely absent from the Pierce Brosnan era, but returned to the franchise with Casino Royale, now played by black actor Jeffrey Wright. He provides Bo
... keep reading on reddit ➡Personally, I'd set it in the immediate Post-War, Pre-Falklands time period (you get all the WWII analogue spy gadgets, some small digital tech and cold war intrigue)
Maybe an Alpha-Protocol-style Safehouse hub in between missions (or in the part of the map at the beginning of one), where you can talk with M, Moneypenny and Q.
In fact, the controls tutorial should probably be Bond in his flat in Wellington Square with May the Housekeeper. Wake up, get dressed, have scrambled eggs, get a phone call and drive to British Intelligence for his mission briefing - remind the audience he still has a semblance of a home life outside of missions.
I mean, what's up with that guy, anyway? His wife gets murdered (and possibly gang raped beforehand), and his legs get bitten off by a shark, but, at the end of the movie, he's on the phone with Bond, acting all jovial, and saying, "Hey, come see me next time you're in town and we'll do some fishing lol!" Who the fuck wrote that?
Really, they should have just had the balls to kill Felix off completely instead of just maiming him. It's not as if they even used him again until Casino Royale anyway.
That's the only way to explain the many actors and personalities. Some Felix's are old bureaucrats, others are young men of action. They all even have different relationships with Bond. Some are his best friend, others think he's an annoyance.
Who has been the best actor to ever play Felix Leiter’s role?
If this is Daniel Craig’s last Bond film, then I think we deserve to see the two partner up together on a mission. We’ve only seen him a few times in Craig’s rendition, and he was mentioned in SPECTRE, but I would love to see Jeffrey Wright portray him one last time.
Come on man
Felix Leiter has been played by 9 people. Why do they keep changing actors? In almost every movie Felix has been played by a different actor. The only time they have brought back an actor was David Hedison and Jeffrey Wright.
