'SPECTRE': Here's what we know about Christoph Waltz's villainous character
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It certainly appears that 鈥淏ig Eyes鈥 actor Christoph Waltz will play the villain in the upcoming James Bond film 鈥淪PECTRE,鈥 but is he famous 鈥淏ond鈥 villain Blofeld?聽
Bond fans are learning more about the upcoming film as we get closer to the movie鈥檚 November release date. 鈥淪PECTRE鈥 features the return of actor Daniel Craig, who previously starred in the films 鈥淐asino Royale,鈥 鈥淨uantum of Solace,鈥 and 鈥淪kyfall,鈥 as superspy James Bond.
The movie co-stars actors Waltz, Dave Bautista of 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy,鈥 鈥淏lue Is the Warmest Color鈥 actress L茅a Seydoux, and Monica Belluci of 鈥淭he Sorcerer鈥檚 Apprentice鈥 as well as the return of 鈥淪kyfall鈥 actors Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Ben Whishaw.聽
From the beginning, Bond fans have wondered if the title of the new film means famous Bond villain Ernst Blofeld will be making an appearance in the film. For the uninitiated, SPECTRE stands for 鈥淪pecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion鈥 and in previous movies, the villain Blofeld was the head of the organization SPECTRE. He鈥檚 popped up previously in such Bond movies as 鈥淵ou Only Live Twice鈥 and 鈥淒iamonds Are Forever鈥 and has been played by various actors, including Donald Pleasence of 鈥淗alloween.鈥澛
When announcing who was starring in 鈥淪PECTRE,鈥 the official James Bond Twitter account tweeted last year,
Waltz himself when asked whether he was playing Blofeld, 鈥淭hat is absolutely untrue. That rumor started on the Internet, and the Internet is a pest. The name of my character is Franz Oberhauser.鈥 In the James Bond books by Ian Fleming, Oberhauser is a ski instructor for James with whom James becomes close. However, Oberhauser later vanishes.
Judging by a new , Waltz鈥檚 character is certainly someone villainous. 鈥淵ou came across me so many times, yet you never saw me,鈥 someone who certainly sounds like Waltz says in voiceover. 鈥淲hat took you so long?鈥 A person sitting in shadow at the head of a table is then revealed to be Waltz, and Waltz later says, 鈥淚t was me, James. The author of all your pain.鈥澛
So that doesn't sound like a particularly friendly character. The immediate assumption that Waltz is taking on a villainous role may also be because of the movies audiences have seen him in previously. His breakout part was as a Nazi in the 2010 Quentin Tarantino movie 鈥淚nglourious Basterds鈥 (for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar) and he also played antagonists in such recent movies as the 2011 films 鈥淭he Green Hornet,鈥 鈥淭he Three Musketeers,鈥 and 鈥淲ater for Elephants鈥 as well as the 2014 movie 鈥淗orrible Bosses 2.鈥 聽聽
However, if Blofeld is involved in this new movie, the film 鈥淪PECTRE鈥 follows the reboot pattern currently in style in Hollywood. The first movie starring Craig, the 2006 movie 鈥淐asino Royale,鈥 was in a sense a reboot of the series 鈥 at the beginning of the film, Craig as Bond is first given his title of 007. When a series is rebooted, audiences practically assume that their favorite characters or villains will pop up eventually, and if Blofeld is involved, he鈥檚 one of the most famous characters of the franchise.
Fan favorite characters coming back in a reboot also include the Joker of the 鈥淏atman鈥 series, who has been played by two different actors previously as the franchise was rebooted and will now be portrayed by 鈥淒allas Buyers Club鈥 actor Jared Leto in the 2016 film 鈥淪uicide Squad,鈥 and the 鈥淪tar Trek鈥 character of Khan, who was portrayed by actor Benedict Cumberbatch in the recent 鈥淭rek鈥 film 鈥淪tar Trek Into Darkness鈥 after previously having been played by Ricardo Montalban.聽
If Blofeld is involved, this bringing back of favorite characters for 鈥淪PECTRE鈥 is in contrast to the plot of the last Bond film, the 2012 smash hit 鈥淪kyfall,鈥 where the movie鈥檚 villain, Raoul Silva, was far from a famous name to Bond fans prior to the movie鈥檚 release.聽
鈥淪PECTRE鈥 will be released on Nov. 6.