Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright)

Felix Leiter
Character information
Died	July 2020 (?), Caribbean Sea
Hair	Black, short with beard
Eyes	Brown
Nationality	American
Occupation	Intelligence operative
Affiliation	Central Intelligence Agency
Status	Deceased, shot & wounded by Logan Ash
Behind the scenes
Role	Ally
Portrayed by	Jeffrey Wright
First seen	Casino Royale (film)
Last seen	No Time to Die (film)

"Funny game right. Sorry, should have introduced myself, seeing how we're related. Felix Leiter, a brother from Langley."

― Felix Leiter to James Bond

Felix Leiter is a fictional American CIA intelligence operative. Based on the literary character created by Ian Fleming, Leiter is portrayed by American actor, Jeffrey Wright, and first appeared in the 2006 film, Casino Royale, and was later seen in its 2008 sequel, Quantum of Solace. He again reprises his role in No Time to Die (2021), making him the only actor to play the role of Felix Leiter in three films.

Biography

Casino Royale

"I'll give you the money to keep going, just one thing. If you pull it off, the CIA bring him in."
"And what about the winnings?"
"Does it look like we need the money?"

― Felix Leiter and James Bond

Leiter and James Bond working together

At the Casino Royale in Montenegro Leiter plays in the high-stakes poker game against James Bond and Le Chiffre. Unable to beat Le Chiffre, Leiter backs Bond with a five million dollar buy in, after Bond misreads Le Chiffre's bluff, under the agreement that the CIA be the ones to arrest Le Chiffre after the game.

Quantum of Solace

"James... move your ass."

― Felix Leiter to James Bond

Later, Leiter and Gregg Beam worked with General Medrano's regime to ensure America got the oil rights in Bolivia when Medrano became president by force. Beam indeed negotiated a deal with Quantum operative, Dominic Greene, to ignore his orchestrated coup in Bolivia in exchange for the oil, which the section chief assumed Greene had discovered; incorrectly interpreting Greene's bulk purchase of water piping.

He and Leiter travelled with the Quantum representatives to Austria and while discussing their business arrangements, Greene mentioned that he had a 'pest' he would like eliminated as part of the deal. Beam glanced at the photo of James Bond and passed it to Leiter, duplicitously asking him to identify it. When Felix lied to the men, Beam identified Bond and told Greene he would deal with him.

Leiter giving his information to James Bond

Later in La Paz, Bond phoned Leiter at their front office, Incan Exports, and arranged a meeting. Beam sent his men after Bond to kill him. However, Felix, disgusted by Beam's corruption, informed the spy of their dealings with Medrano and that their time window to talk was thirty seconds and warned him about his pursuers, allowing him to escape at the last minute. Following Medrano and Greene's demises, Beam was exposed for his crimes and Leiter replaced him as section chief after M said that to Bond.

Spectre

James Bond mentions Leiter briefly to Lucia Sciarra as a form of protection.

No Time to Die

Leiter suggesting a mission to James Bond

"I had a brother. His name was Felix Leiter."

― James Bond to Logan Ash.

Years following James Bond's mission in Bolivia, when MI6 scientist Valdo Obruchev was abducted by SPECTRE, Leiter and his partner, Logan Ash, were sent to track down Bond, and convince him to help track down Obruchev. Bond refused to help; however, he changed his mind after discovering that Obruchev was working on Project Heracles, a bioweapon containing nanobots that spread like a virus upon touch and are coded to specific DNA strands, so they were only dangerous if programmed to an individual's genetic code.

Leiter dying from his gunshot wound

Bond and another CIA agent, named Paloma, were able to capture Obruchev and the British agent brought Obruchev back onto a boat where Leiter and Ash were waiting. Despite Ash telling Bond that his mission was over, Bond refused to leave and angrily demanded to know who Obruchev was working for. Ash, realizing that there was no way out, revealed his allegiance by pulling out a gun and shooting Leiter in the stomach, before kicking him into the hull. The corrupt agent later sunk the ship with a limpet mine, before leaving with Obruchev and bringing him over to his boss. Leiter succumbed to his injury and bled out, before his body was lost within the wreckage of the exploded, drowning boat, much to Bond's distraught.

Following Ernst Stavro Blofeld's death, Bond faced off against Ash again, as he invoked Leiter's name as justification, just before Ash was crushed to death by an overturned vehicle, avenging Leiter's death. After killing Lyutsifer Safin and his remaining men, Bond joined Leiter in death by sacrificing himself in a missile explosion to foil Safin's plot.

Behind the scenes

Casino Royale allowed Leiter to re-appear and he and Bond meet for the first time in the film. Early script drafts for Quantum of Solace gave Wright a larger role, but his screen time was restricted by on-set rewrites. Wright became the second actor to play the role of Leiter multiple times after David Hedison in 1973's Live and Let Die and 1989's Licence to Kill. He returned to the role in No Time to Die.

Gallery

Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright)/Gallery

Trivia

• Oddly, in the 2012 game 007 Legends the Felix Leiter that appears in the Goldfinger and Licence to Kill sections of the game is played by and based on the likeness of Demetri Goritsas, as opposed to the Jeffery Wright, despite the in game universe being based on the Daniel Craig version of Bond. This game, though, came out in 2012 long before No Time to Die was made and hence Wright's return to the Bond franchise.

See Also

• Felix Leiter
• Felix Leiter (Literary)
• Felix Leiter (Jack Lord)
• Felix Leiter (Cec Linder)
• Felix Leiter (Rik Van Nutter)
• Felix Leiter (Norman Burton)
• Felix Leiter (David Hedison)
• Felix Leiter (Bernie Casey)
• Felix Leiter (John Terry)
• Felix Leiter (Lloyd Owen)
• Felix Leiter (Josh Stamberg)
• Felix Leiter (Demetri Goritsas)
• Jack Wade