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Felix


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#1 Robertsmiller

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 05:41 AM

We need more Felix! Thunderball style, team these two up! Have him ride in at the end with the Marines and help Bond kick ass! I want the fast talking texan BACK!

#2 JB007YH

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 05:57 AM

I 100% agree. Jeffrey Wright is a great actor but the character they had him play was not the Felix persona. I think they shouldve had Jeffrey Wright play a new character and not mess with Felix

#3 Cody

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 06:03 AM

I would like the next film to have a good deal of Felix Leiter in it, but specifically I want it to be the Jeffrey Wright Felix. Loved him in CR and QOS.

#4 AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 07:14 AM

Jeffrey Wright should absolutely return and it would be great to have a scene similar to TB's "Martini rant" in Bond 24.

#5 Robertsmiller

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 03:46 PM

Jeffrey Wright should absolutely return and it would be great to have a scene similar to TB's "Martini rant" in Bond 24.


Yeah okay Meatloaf

#6 Judo chop

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 04:41 PM

I would like to see JW’s Felix back in action. (JW referring to actor Jeffery Wright’s initials, not in reference to that other infamous Bond redneck, JW Pepper).

One thing that QOS did mostly right was to give the Felix character an arc of his own. Now that we’ve closed the door on CraigBond’s formation phase, it’d be nice to see Felix and Bond comfortably settled in like the days of yore. For one film at least. Then after that, maybe our rebooted Felix can play a more weighty role. I’m not sure we need to go all out LTK/LALD shark attack on him. At the same time I don’t see why we couldn’t, though a reinvention of that tragedy might be in order. Maybe this time around he ends up being tortured for information, or merely to flush Bond out, or both, and loses an eye and an ear to a starved rat.

By the way Robert, what is a “smiller”?

#7 Secret007

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 06:08 PM

I agree with Cody. Bring Jeffrey Wright back as "Felix Leiter" and give him more to do. Just because his character was promoted in the CIA, doesn't mean he still can't be out in the field. Would love to see him working side by side with James Bond in action. Perhaps "Felix" would like to meet "Miss Moneypenny".

#8 Yellow Pinky

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 06:23 PM

I would definitely like to see Felix and Bond working side by side on a key element of a larger mission and to revisit that banter and camaraderie that was prevalent in the earlier films. I really like Jeffrey Wright, but would like to see him lighten up a bit more in the role and recapture the sense that he and Bond really "enjoy" working with each other.

#9 00Twelve

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 07:11 PM

All for the return of Wright's Felix. I'd like to see the two of them investigating together as in a few of the novels.

As far as "Thunderball style," just leave out the actual style choices, please. No full suits on the beach or sunglasses indoors.

#10 Iceskater101

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 07:37 PM

I agree with this! If any of you have seen the Living Daylights that actor who plays Felix is how I pictured him when reading Casino Royale. I like Jeffery Wright though

#11 Robertsmiller

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Posted 29 November 2012 - 11:14 PM

I don't have a problem Jeff being Felix! I just want him to lighten up, like you said, Lt. Pinky! More "You son of a bitch" type of a relationship less whispering and looking around all sneaky.

#12 Loomis

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Posted 30 November 2012 - 12:43 AM

I'm all for the return of Leiter but surely it's time to maintain Eon tradition and recast the role. An actor performing the role of Leiter thrice is absolutely unheard of. Connery got through four Leiters, or five if you count NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN.

#13 SolidWaffle

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Posted 30 November 2012 - 08:20 AM

I think Wright gave us an excellent Felix in his films. I also think that one tradition that should stay in the pre-reboot era is the recasting of Felix. I dream of an action scene in Rio or Sao Paolo with Felix involved, as he's now head of South America.

#14 Walecs

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Posted 30 November 2012 - 09:42 AM

I hope they won't do that stupid thing to change Felix's actor every single movie, it was terrible and confusing.

#15 Howland

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Posted 30 November 2012 - 10:25 AM

I am not particularly fond of Jeffrey Wright, because he is very far from the Felix, Fleming wrote about (but then again, so does a lot of character), but now that he has the role, I would hate it if they gave it to someone else. I hate it when they give a new face to a recurring role.

And yes, I see the irony in my post

#16 DaveBond21

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Posted 30 November 2012 - 10:52 AM

Was Skyfall better off without Felix?


Yes!!!


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#17 Judo chop

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Posted 30 November 2012 - 04:12 PM

Was Skyfall better off without Felix?


Yes!!!

How on earth can you possibly make that conclusion unless you witnessed a director's cut version with Felix scenes included?

(Did you?)

#18 Robertsmiller

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Posted 01 December 2012 - 04:47 AM

Was Skyfall better off without Felix?


Yes!!!


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You can't say that. Felix could've popped up almost anytime and if the character and their relationship was similiar to the books, it would've been classic! Felix and Bond are buddies! Ever read Live and Let Die? When they cruise Harlem? Or Thunderball? Classic stuff!

#19 tdalton

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Posted 01 December 2012 - 10:30 AM


Was Skyfall better off without Felix?


Yes!!!


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


You can't say that. Felix could've popped up almost anytime and if the character and their relationship was similiar to the books, it would've been classic! Felix and Bond are buddies! Ever read Live and Let Die? When they cruise Harlem? Or Thunderball? Classic stuff!


Perhaps, but the Bond and Felix of the Craig films are decidedly not "buddies". They have some form of respect for each other and Felix does help Bond out in Quantum of Solace by giving him information behind Beame's back, but I would hardly say that their relationship is anywhere close to them being friends.

#20 Dustin

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Posted 01 December 2012 - 12:05 PM



Was Skyfall better off without Felix?


Yes!!!


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


You can't say that. Felix could've popped up almost anytime and if the character and their relationship was similiar to the books, it would've been classic! Felix and Bond are buddies! Ever read Live and Let Die? When they cruise Harlem? Or Thunderball? Classic stuff!


Perhaps, but the Bond and Felix of the Craig films are decidedly not "buddies". They have some form of respect for each other and Felix does help Bond out in Quantum of Solace by giving him information behind Beame's back, but I would hardly say that their relationship is anywhere close to them being friends.



Unless their relationship evolved off screen in the years since QOS. But I agree that Leiter would have been largely superfluous in SKYFALL. The central characters are Silva, M and Bond, with the rest of SIS (Q, Tanner, Eve and Mallory) providing background. Including yet another character without good reason or decent explanation would have been a stretch. I'm not against using Leiter, but if you do give him some proper part, not a forced cameo for the sake of it.

#21 00Twelve

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Posted 01 December 2012 - 04:41 PM



Was Skyfall better off without Felix?


Yes!!!


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


You can't say that. Felix could've popped up almost anytime and if the character and their relationship was similiar to the books, it would've been classic! Felix and Bond are buddies! Ever read Live and Let Die? When they cruise Harlem? Or Thunderball? Classic stuff!


Perhaps, but the Bond and Felix of the Craig films are decidedly not "buddies". They have some form of respect for each other and Felix does help Bond out in Quantum of Solace by giving him information behind Beame's back, but I would hardly say that their relationship is anywhere close to them being friends.

"Seems your friend Leiter was promoted, he replaced Beam." (close to that)

As much as any allies can be considered "friends" in the 21st century espionage field, I'd say Bond and Leiter definitely have a level of trust. One that could easily evolve into a higher cameraderie if they were on a joint investigation as in the days of old. Not necessarily Moore and Hedison, but more like Connery and Lord.

Wouldn't mind seeing such a partnership at all.

#22 Pussfeller

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Posted 01 December 2012 - 08:51 PM

I'll be sad if he doesn't return in B24. I didn't miss him in SF, but that's because the plot of SF was unusually inward-looking and Britain-focused. In a more conventional Bond plot, there are many more opportunities for Felixage (Felicity?) to manifest itself. Wright was underused in CR and misused in QOS. If he returns, I'd like to see him play a more relaxed, executive-style agent who actually enjoys his job, rather than a smoldering sourpuss or a browbeaten conscientious objector.

In 2008 it seemed that the filmmakers set up Leiter and Beam as an allegory of American politics, with Gregg Beam as a John Bolton parody and Leiter (who "kept his job") as a not-very-subtle Obama stand-in. If they bring back Wright, they should follow the allegory to its logical conclusion. Make Felix simultaneously idealistic and ruthless. On the one hand he's a suave soul-brother who tries to be above it all, on the other hand he's a high-ranking member of an organization that sends robots to bomb people.

And Bond is the same, except his country doesn't have the money for killer robots. In QOS, there was too much of a moral gulf between Bond and Leiter. They both know that they're essentially hired killers working for the "preservation of capital", as Renard put it. They should be professional enough and cool enough not to take the politics too seriously. All that angsty palaver about "coke and communism" was like a debate between a couple of freshman poli-sci majors.

The secret of Bond and Leiter's friendship is that they share a peculiar occupation which forces them into a dark and morally uncomfortable realm. This shared understanding permits them to be light-hearted and apolitical in each other's company. Writing about antisemitism, Sartre observed that when two Jews are alone together they have the freedom to stop being Jews and simply be men. But when an outsider is present, they have no choice but to play the role they were born into. That's how I view Bond and Leiter's friendship. They hang out together because they're both spies, but the last thing they want to do is remind themselves of that fact. It's a dynamic that Fleming was aware of, but that the films seem to ignore.

#23 00Twelve

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Posted 01 December 2012 - 11:10 PM

The secret of Bond and Leiter's friendship is that they share a peculiar occupation which forces them into a dark and morally uncomfortable realm. This shared understanding permits them to be light-hearted and apolitical in each other's company. Writing about antisemitism, Sartre observed that when two Jews are alone together they have the freedom to stop being Jews and simply be men. But when an outsider is present, they have no choice but to play the role they were born into. That's how I view Bond and Leiter's friendship. They hang out together because they're both spies, but the last thing they want to do is remind themselves of that fact. It's a dynamic that Fleming was aware of, but that the films seem to ignore.

Excellent analogy, agreed.

#24 SolidWaffle

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Posted 03 December 2012 - 06:58 AM

I do think QOS at least started to show us that Bond and Felix have a similar cynical edge to them. Their bar scene is a favorite of mine (Don't yell at me! I'm that one guy who likes that movie.) They don't have to be buddies because as spies, can you really have buddies? I think it'd be a shame NOT to develop this relationship sometime, and Jeffery Wright is the man to do it in my opinion.

#25 tdalton

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Posted 03 December 2012 - 07:02 AM

(Don't yell at me! I'm that one guy who likes that movie.)


I think there's at least two of us that like QUANTUM OF SOLACE. ;) I like the bar scene quite a bit as well.

I also hope that they decide to revisit the Bond/Felix relationship at some point during the Craig Era, at least so that we can see them actually working together rather than having them on opposite sides of a conflict. Hopefully we get to see it and it doesn't become another casualty of EON and Craig's attempt to distance themselves as far as humanly possible from QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

#26 AgentBentley

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Posted 03 December 2012 - 09:58 AM

If Leiter returns, it should definitely be Jeffrey Wright, even though I do not think we need to see Leiter in every movie.

#27 triviachamp

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 07:56 PM

I'm all for the return of Leiter but surely it's time to maintain Eon tradition and recast the role. An actor performing the role of Leiter thrice is absolutely unheard of. Connery got through four Leiters, or five if you count NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN.

 

Alex O'Loughlin for Leiter! :P



#28 seawolfnyy

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 08:46 PM

There was no place for Felix in Skyfall. I would like to see Jeffrey Wright return as Felix, but the story needs to necessitate it.