Originally posted by: Warbler
I am curious, how would you have tied it together?

The outgoing James Bond 007 recruits his replacement, who takes on the name to further his image of invincibility and ever-present youthfulness.

And in a bit of fan boy gushing, it actually had each of the previous James Bonds return to teach him something about his character. My favorite was actually Lazenby, teaching him the art of changing his voice. It also got into the fact that he prematurely left after making the mistake of falling in love and getting married, which, upon her death, forced the "original" James Bond to return to clean up the mess.

Connery and his skill at cards (esp. Baccarat) was going to play in significantly into the plot of Casino Royale, which would have been his first assignment as the rest of the film plays out.

It was all written a bit Remo Williams-ish, with the new recruit being obtained in a black-ops type maneuver by Brosnan and taken to an undisclosed facility to begin his training. It also smacked of Andy Garcia's recruitment in The Untouchables. But even my wife bought into it and supported me trying to solicit the idea to EON. If any of my silly notions ever convince her to be positive, then the material must have legs, because she's argumentative by nature about just about anything.

Even if nobody else returned, these skills and the 007 history could have been passed down by the "recruiter" explaining his 40-year longevity.