will reportedly be returning to the Bond franchise in the unnamed next installment still referred to only as Bond 25, reprising his role as James Bond’s nemesis Blofeld from the previous entry Spectre. The criminal mastermind was named Franz Oberhauser when introduced as the leader of the titular criminal organization, but revealed his true identity towards the end of the film, as well as a familial connection to Bond himself.

Although Blofeld only appeared in a handful of Bond films (and even then was a fully shown active participant in even fewer) he was portrayed as the architect of number of schemes foiled by the superspy, becoming something of a Professor Moriarty to Bond’s Sherlock Holmes. It wasn’t until You Only Live Twice where he was portrayed by Donald Pleasence that the villain became a fully realized character, which also cemented an iconic image that has been parodied numerous times, such as Dr Evil in the Austin Powers movies as well as the primary villains of children’s cartoons Inspector Gadget and Danger Mouse.

The declaration of Waltz’s return to the franchise came from the Twitter feed of Baz Bamigboye, a gossip columnist for the Daily Mail. He stated that Waltz was seen shooting scenes at Pinewood Studios, and when an unnamed visitor spotted him, he insisted “You haven’t seen me,” presumably in an attempt to prevent word getting out about his involvement, which evidently failed.

Although the villain of Bond 25 has been stated to be Mr Robot’s Rami Malek in an as-yet-unspecified role (which at Malek’s insistence is not an Arab terrorist), there was already speculation that Waltz would return. In February Bond 25 was reported to have a working title of Shatterhand, which is an alias taken by Blofeld in the novel You Only Live Twice, where he appeared as a samurai maintaining a Japanese island garden laden with lethal traps where people travel to commit suicide.

The report of Waltz’s appearance should probably be taken with a grain of salt, but it’s still an interesting possibility to consider. If Waltz does make an appearance in Bond 25, the question is in what capacity he will be used. Although it might seem ludicrous to have Blofeld preside over a death island in Shogunate garb, you could have said the same about Bond and Blofeld being revealed to be brothers as though the screenwriter had just finished watching Goldmember. Seeing as Blofeld was captured by MI6 at Spectre’s conclusion, it would make more sense for him to be shown as a prisoner being interrogated for information about Malek’s villain, perhaps becoming something akin to Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. Unless he manages to orchestrate an escape, there probably wouldn’t be very much for him to do.

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Source: Baz Bamigboye

  • Bond 25 Release Date: 2021-10-08