10 Times Movie Sequels Screwed Over Strong Female Characters
9. Moneypenny - James Bond: Spectre
Featured in 23 films and played by four different actors, Moneypenny is an ever present in the notorious Bond films.
Although she was often seen as nothing more than a romantic interest to Bond and personal secretary to M, Miss Moneypenny (played by Naomie Harris) finally got an origin story in 2012's Skyfall.
Instead of being stuck to a desk making googly eyes at Bond, she is in the field working alongside 007 as they track down a known fugitive. Although Moneypenny ends up hitting Bond in the shoulder with a sniper rifle as he grapples with a goon on top of a train, she redeems herself by helping to apprehend an assailant at the Macau casino and is the personal bodyguard to M during a shootout at her court hearing.
The story of Moneypenny going from nervous rookie to reliable agent is soon forgotten in the next film, Spectre, when she ends up taking a desk job in order to avoid the action of the field.
Most of her dialogue in Spectre is filled with romantic tension between her and Bond and, although she certainly shows her superior wit, her character is one dimensional compared to her role in Skyfall.