For all the threads about alternate Bonds...I wanted to answer with one for all those people, like me, who would be happier if Bond didn't exist.
So: suppose Ian Fleming decides to write detective novels, or romances, instead. James Bond, superspy, never exists.
Is he replaced?
Does Quiller
or Matt Helm take his place?
Or do spy novels, & spy films & TV, wane into obscurity? Do "Mission: Impossible" & "Get Smart" never happen?
Does "24" never happen?

Does Ian Fleming die broke?
So: suppose Ian Fleming decides to write detective novels, or romances, instead. James Bond, superspy, never exists.
Is he replaced?
Does Quiller
Or do spy novels, & spy films & TV, wane into obscurity? Do "Mission: Impossible" & "Get Smart" never happen?
Does Ian Fleming die broke?