Before You See 'SPECTRE,' Here's a Crash Course in Recent Bond Movies

SPECTRE, Daniel Craig’s fourth film as James Bond, opens in theaters Friday. But how well do you remember his last three Bond movies? After all, it’s been nine years since Casino Royale opened in theaters, proving to the world that Craig could fill the shoes (and swim trunks) of previous 007 agents like Pierce Brosnan and Sean Connery. SPECTRE brings it all home, tying together plot points introduced in Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), and Skyfall (2012). So before you go, brush up on your recent Bond lore with Yahoo Movies’ catch-up video above.

Related: Read our complete ‘SPECTRE’ coverage

Craig’s run as Bond began in Casino Royale with the young, reckless MI6 agent being promoted to 00 status by M (Judie Dench), in order to take down poker-playing terrorist financier Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). On his mission in Montenegro, Bond falls in love with the treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), but tragedy and betrayal soon tears them apart. In Quantum of Solace, Bond pursues Le Chiffre’s superior, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), and learns of his connection to a mysterious international organization called Quantum. After a disturbing encounter with leading Quantum member Dominic Greene (Mathieu Almaric), Bond goes rogue, then returns to MI6 after dealing with Greene. Skyfall sees Bond’s organization being targeted by cyberterrorist Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), an ex-MI6 agent who forces Bond to revisit his painful childhood, but not before causing the death of a good friend. The film also introduces some new characters who return for SPECTRE: agent Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), quartermaster Q (Ben Wishaw), and new MI6 head honcho Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes).

Got all that? Good. Now report to the nearest movie theater.