Will we ever see Felix Leiter again?

13

Comments

  • I just looked it up, and shockingly enough, David Hedison was over 60 in Licence to Kill; Also, Cec Linder was older in Goldfinger than Jack Lord was in Dr. No; Rik Van Nutter was 36 in Thunderball, and John Terry was 27 in The Living Daylights.
  • Posts: 15,123
    Lord, Hedison, and Wright are the holy trinity of Leiters. The rest of this bunch sucked, especially that stiff in the blue jacket on the bottom.

    I don't think Rik Van Nutter sucked. He was a bit generic, but nowhere near as bad as Linder, Burton, or Terry. For that matter, I have a bit of a soft spot for Linder, since Goldfinger got me back into the franchise. Still not a good Felix by any objective measure.

    I thought Rik Van Nutter was really good too. And he looked a bit like Jack Lord, enough so that they looked like the same character. Sure, he was a bit thick, but I think he was written this way as a faire valoir.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    Until Jeffery Wright, Rik Van Nutter was my favorite Felix.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    Murdock wrote:
    Until Jeffery Wright, Rik Van Nutter was my favorite Felix.

    I can see that. Van Nutter definitely made me think of Fleming. With Wright, he's the only actor who's offered a viable case for a Bond spin-off. The thought of a spin-off makes me feel ill, but after his appearance in CR I remember thinking a Felix TV series is something I'd totally buy into.
  • Posts: 15,123
    I just looked it up, and shockingly enough, David Hedison was over 60 in Licence to Kill; Also, Cec Linder was older in Goldfinger than Jack Lord was in Dr. No; Rik Van Nutter was 36 in Thunderball, and John Terry was 27 in The Living Daylights.

    Hedison was too old in LTK and Terry way too young, especially opposite Dalton.
  • Ludovico wrote:
    I just looked it up, and shockingly enough, David Hedison was over 60 in Licence to Kill; Also, Cec Linder was older in Goldfinger than Jack Lord was in Dr. No; Rik Van Nutter was 36 in Thunderball, and John Terry was 27 in The Living Daylights.

    Hedison was too old in LTK and Terry way too young, especially opposite Dalton.

    Actually, Terry was 37. My ability to do math momentarily departed me. I thought Hedison looked good in LTK, I'd thought he and Cec Linder in GF were about the same age, even though Hedison was 20 years older.
  • Posts: 15,123
    Ludovico wrote:
    I just looked it up, and shockingly enough, David Hedison was over 60 in Licence to Kill; Also, Cec Linder was older in Goldfinger than Jack Lord was in Dr. No; Rik Van Nutter was 36 in Thunderball, and John Terry was 27 in The Living Daylights.

    Hedison was too old in LTK and Terry way too young, especially opposite Dalton.

    Actually, Terry was 37. My ability to do math momentarily departed me. I thought Hedison looked good in LTK, I'd thought he and Cec Linder in GF were about the same age, even though Hedison was 20 years older.

    Then my previous comment was presumptuous. Terry never struck me as very good. I think the best Bond-Leiter couple was maybe the very first, although Moore-Hedison and Craig-Wright are very good.
  • LicencedToKilt69007LicencedToKilt69007 Belgium, Wallonia
    Posts: 523
    I truly wish he'll be back soon (in Bond 25 perhaps) wether it's Wright (who acted well) or not. And I hope EON will go back to roots with him considering books content.
  • Bradford4Bradford4 Banned
    Posts: 152
    Just recast Leiter. I don't much care for Jeffrey's newest portrayal, I can't see him and Craig's Bond ever being friends or grabbing a meal together after a mission. Just rotten. The only Leiter to me that has ever seemed like he could believably be good pals with Bond is David Hedison.
  • Posts: 1,970
    They should bring back Jack Wade
  • Posts: 12,526
    Jeffrey Wright is a great Leiter! Sooner he returns if required? The better! No need at all to recast?
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    I'd rather keep Jeffrey Wright for the remainder of Craig's tenure then recast him with someone new for the next Bond actor.
  • fjdinardo wrote:
    They should bring back Jack Wade

    It always really bothered me that Wade couldn't just be Felix. That being said, I would love to see Wright back. He's the first to bring any actual personality to the role since Hedison in LTK and I like how he hasn't been recast (hope it stays that way). I think he'll be brought back in B24. On that note, am I the only one who has noticed the reboot films have gone on roughly the same trajectory with Quantum/SPECTRE as the first films? In CR and DN a villainous organization is introduced but we don't dive deeply into it. FRWL and QOS look a little bit more deeply into the organization, but it's still shadowy to Bond. Then in GF and SF the organization is absent. It seems logical, then, to assume that Bond 24/25 will be for Quantum what TB/YOLT were for SPECTRE (fingers crossed!). I hope they also follow the trajectory with Felix (ie bring him back for 24!)
  • edited December 2013 Posts: 317
    I heard Jeffery Wright on a radio show hint that he would be back in the next film. I hope so, he is the best Felix ever imo.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Coldfinger wrote:
    I heard Jeffery Wright on a radio show hint that he would be back in the next film. I hope so, he is the best Felix ever imo.

    He's my favorite too, next to Hedison. Other than those two, no other actors stick out as anything close to the "quintessential" Felix Leiter.
  • Bradford4 wrote:
    Just recast Leiter. I don't much care for Jeffrey's newest portrayal, I can't see him and Craig's Bond ever being friends or grabbing a meal together after a mission. Just rotten. The only Leiter to me that has ever seemed like he could believably be good pals with Bond is David Hedison.

    Completely agree with all of this. Wright is a good actor but I don't like his Felix. Wright's Felix is a miserable git and he doesn't seem like he's friends with Bond at all. Hedison wasn't brilliant but to me he was the only Felix who seemed like he was actually friends with Bond.

    I want Dean Norris to play Felix next time. If it is Wright again though I hope they write him better. Have him lighten up a bit.
  • Posts: 15,123
    fjdinardo wrote:
    They should bring back Jack Wade

    It always really bothered me that Wade couldn't just be Felix. That being said, I would love to see Wright back. He's the first to bring any actual personality to the role since Hedison in LTK and I like how he hasn't been recast (hope it stays that way). I think he'll be brought back in B24. On that note, am I the only one who has noticed the reboot films have gone on roughly the same trajectory with Quantum/SPECTRE as the first films? In CR and DN a villainous organization is introduced but we don't dive deeply into it. FRWL and QOS look a little bit more deeply into the organization, but it's still shadowy to Bond. Then in GF and SF the organization is absent. It seems logical, then, to assume that Bond 24/25 will be for Quantum what TB/YOLT were for SPECTRE (fingers crossed!). I hope they also follow the trajectory with Felix (ie bring him back for 24!)

    I noticed it too, about the arc. I am all for a return of Quantum, in fact it is essential I think, as long as they don't go the way YOLT and DAF went with Quantum. And I agree with you about Wright and Leiter.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Bradford4 wrote:
    Just recast Leiter. I don't much care for Jeffrey's newest portrayal, I can't see him and Craig's Bond ever being friends or grabbing a meal together after a mission. Just rotten. The only Leiter to me that has ever seemed like he could believably be good pals with Bond is David Hedison.

    Completely agree with all of this. Wright is a good actor but I don't like his Felix. Wright's Felix is a miserable git and he doesn't seem like he's friends with Bond at all. Hedison wasn't brilliant but to me he was the only Felix who seemed like he was actually friends with Bond.

    I want Dean Norris to play Felix next time. If it is Wright again though I hope they write him better. Have him lighten up a bit.

    I would call Wright's Felix miserable, but to be fair he did have a lot to be unhappy about, prominently in QoS when his own agency was doing deals with evil and corrupt individuals and attempting to stop Bond in his tracks. And then there's Beam...
  • Posts: 15,123
    Yeah, I'd feel pretty miserable if Beam was my boss too.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    Yes Gregory Beam, that great Walrus of a man. :))
    Sadly I can't find that picture Brady made.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,280
    Yes, Felix Leiter will be back - this is the value of the reboot, y'see. No shark mauling to hold him back!
  • Murdock wrote:
    Yes Gregory Beam, that great Walrus of a man. :))
    Sadly I can't find that picture Brady made.

    It's on the Originals thread :)
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited December 2013 Posts: 28,694
    Murdock wrote:
    Yes Gregory Beam, that great Walrus of a man. :))
    Sadly I can't find that picture Brady made.
    You mean...this?

    8643371251_f02bfa5f37_b.jpg

    ;)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,280
    ^ Now that is summin' else!
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    I'm also a fan of Wright and I really hope to see him in Bond 24. I would much rather see Bond working together in the field with Felix than with Moneypenny.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,280
    pachazo wrote:
    I'm also a fan of Wright and I really hope to see him in Bond 24. I would much rather see Bond working together in the field with Felix than with Moneypenny.

    Wouldn't we all? I too agree that Jeffrey Wright is most excellent as Felix Leiter.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    You mean...this?

    8643371251_f02bfa5f37_b.jpg

    ;)

    Yes that is the one. =))
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    I think Wright is one of the first Leiters they got right. It's not just a matter of casting a good actor, you also need an actor who has a good rapport with the actor playing James Bond. In my opinion Wright and Craig show more chemistry during those two brief minutes in QOS than Connery and Burton during their scenes in DAF. Is Burton such a bad actor? No, at least not judging from what I've seen from him in other films. But he and Connery play things like they go out on motorhome vacation together with their wives and kids.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Dragonpol wrote:
    pachazo wrote:
    I'm also a fan of Wright and I really hope to see him in Bond 24. I would much rather see Bond working together in the field with Felix than with Moneypenny.

    Wouldn't we all? I too agree that Jeffrey Wright is most excellent as Felix Leiter.

    That would indeed be cool. I'd love to see Wright's Felix finally get a chance to get his gun off. And no, that isn't a euphemism...
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,280
    Dragonpol wrote:
    pachazo wrote:
    I'm also a fan of Wright and I really hope to see him in Bond 24. I would much rather see Bond working together in the field with Felix than with Moneypenny.

    Wouldn't we all? I too agree that Jeffrey Wright is most excellent as Felix Leiter.

    That would indeed be cool. I'd love to see Wright's Felix finally get a chance to get his gun off. And no, that isn't a euphemism...

    Yes, I suppose we've not really seen him in action as such yet, though we rarely do with Felix Leiter, if you think about it.
This discussion has been closed.