Christoph Waltz's return as iconic villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in 'Bond 25' means 007's greatest adversary is here to stay
Last we saw, Christoph Waltz's Ernst Stavro Blofeld was crawling out of a chopper that had crashed on the Westminister Bridge after Bond (Daniel Craig) shoots it down. That takes Bond 2-0 against Blofeld. He first scars the villain at his base in the Sahara desert and finally cripples him (sort of). While he has the chance to kill him, Bond walks away leaving Blofeld at the mercy of the secret service.
And now, the iconic villain, who has been Bond's greatest foe in Ian Fleming's novel will be back in the upcoming 2020 film. Blofeld is portrayed as an evil genius throughout his six movie appearances so far and is the head of SPECTRE, the global criminal organization. He was played by Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas, Charles Gray, Max von Sydow, and Christoph Waltz.
He has previously appeared in 'From Russia with Love' (1963), 'Thunderball' (1965), 'You Only Live Twice' (1967), 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' (1969), 'Diamonds Are Forever' (1971) and 'For Your Eyes Only' (1981, the pre-title sequence of which marks his final appearance and the death of this version of the character). Blofeld also appears in 'Never Say Never Again', the 1983 Warner Brothers remake of 'Thunderball.' A reimagined version of the character made his return in the 2015 film 'Spectre'.
At the moment, the role he will play in the upcoming installment is unclear. With Rami Malek slated to play the baddie, it remains to be seen if he is one of SPECTRE's many agents, and that the duo may team up against Bond. Or, they may be at odds and that would mean Bond may have to take both the villains down in two separate encounters.
This could also mean that we may see more of the villain in future Bond installments. It was revealed in 'Spectre' that Blofeld has been the one responsible for all the catastrophe since the events of 'Casino Royale' (2006) including 'Quantum of Solace' (2008) and 'Skyfall' (2012). And with the character making two appearances so far, it is unlikely we see the last of him. He has been, after all, one of the key villains in 007 history.
The villain has worn many faces in the past. And if 'Bond 25' were to stay true to Ian Fleming's source material, then we may see Blofeld return as Guntram Shatterhand, one of his aliases, from the novel, 'You Only Live Twice'.
The novel ends in a duel between Bond and Blofeld that ends with an enraged 007 strangling Blofeld to death with his bare hands. If this treatment is taken, it shouldn't come as a surprise since Craig's Bond has always been the character who wouldn't mind some bloody punch-ups with his adversaries.
One takeaway from the news of Blofeld's return is that the franchise has looked at keeping him as the main villain and has introduced him as one of Bond's greatest challenges over four movies. 'Shatterhand' was supposedly the working title of the film, but Barbara Broccoli, who along with her half-brother Michael G Wilson, the lead producer on the Bond movie series, has indicated that 'Shatterhand' is not the title of the new film.
Cary Joji Fukunaga is directing the film, which also features Rami Malek as the main villain alongside new entrants Ana De Armas, Lashana Lynch, David Dencik, Billy Magnussen and Dali Benssalah. The film releases April 8, 2020. The movie will be Craig's last outing as 007.