As blockbuster franchises go, the exploits of libertine MI6 agent James Bond, 007, are utterly singular. Originally a series of novels and short stories written by Ian Fleming and published from 1953 to 1966, Bond has become one of the most successful, scrappy, and fiercely independent media franchises in history. Seventy-two years after the publication of Casino Royale, an old-school spy whose initial enemy was communism is somehow not only still relevant but a paradoxically durable character.
