'No Time to Die' Feels Like a 15-Year-Old Superhero Movie

This article contains SPOILERS for No Time to Die

The world finally got to see the newest James Bond movie this month, after it was delayed for obvious reasons in the spring of 2020. And since it turns out that the plot involves a terrifying killer virus … yeah, good call, everybody. But despite the years of hype, No Time to Die feels alarmingly familiar, thanks in part to Bond movie staples like a scarred villain with a remote island lair and puns so bad they could have been pulled from the Bazooka Joe writers’ reject pile. But in many ways, it feels more like a 21st-century superhero movie than a James Bond movie.

Obviously, the Daniel Craig-starring Bond films have pulled from superhero movies in the past. Skyfall was obviously inspired by The Dark Knight, right down to the villain being captured on purpose as part of his master plan and the hero being an orphan who grew up in a dank mansion. Similarly, No Time to Die shares much in common with The Dark Knight Rises, including the hero’s return to active duty, the sacrificial final scene, and yet another Hans Zimmer score that sounds like a stopwatch powered by anxiety.

Perhaps more overtly, No Time to Die also feels a lot like Avengers: Endgame; the five-year flash-forward, the revelation that our hero has a daughter, and the ending where he sacrifices everything to save his family. Sadly, though, Q has yet to send Bond traveling through time. But oddly, the superhero movie it perhaps most resembles is arguably goddamn Superman Returns, the much-maligned failed reboot from 2006 -- which was also, incidentally, the same year the Daniel Craig Bond era began. These days we don’t talk that much about Superman Returns, a movie directed by Bryan Singer and co-starring Kevin Spacey, because … well, we think we’ve answered that question.

Both movies involve our heroes returning home after five years away (Superman went on an outer space journey, while Bond was chilling in Jamaica) where they find out that they’ve essentially been replaced; Lois Lane has a handsome new boyfriend, and M has another 007.

Both heroes then discover that their love interest has a kid, who we later learn totally turns out to be the hero’s.

And in the end, the heroes have to fly to a mysterious island to save the love interest and kid from a supervillain -- with some help from their replacement, who is a pilot.

In the end, both heroes ultimately save the day but are severely injured. Although, while Bond ultimately dies, Superman lives because he was supposed to be Jesus or something.

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Top Image: MGM