Blofeld or Safin: Who Is No Time To Die’s REAL Villain?
Daniel Craig's Bond will have his final outing in No Time To Die, but there's still confusion over who the movie's real villain will be: Christoph Waltz's Blofeld or Rami Malek's Safin? The 25th Bond film will tie up a successful run of Daniel Craig-led Bond movies, with what promises to be an explosive and revelatory final instalment. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, No Time To Die is highly anticipated but remains somewhat mysterious despite the release of a tantalizing trailer and Super Bowl spot.
Some information about the movie has surfaced, however. It's been revealed that Craig's Bond is lured out of retirement by his old CIA buddy Felix Leiter to deal with a new threat. Spectre love interest Lea Seydoux is back as Madeline Swann, alongside a new double-O agent in the form of Lashana Lynch. It's also been confirmed that Christoph Waltz's Ernst Blofeld, who first appeared in Spectre, will be reappearing in No Time To Die, having been spared by Bond at the end of that movie. The head of legendary criminal organisation SPECTRE, Blofeld appeared in the trailer for the upcoming 007 outing alongside Rami Malek, who was previously confirmed to be playing the movie's villain: Safin.
While Bond has grappled with all manner of shady organization throughout his career, most notably SPECTRE, he typically faces off against one main foe per movie. From Dr. No's Dr. No to Casino Royale' s Le Chiffre, Bond has been supplied with no end of memorable supervillain against which to do battle. All of which means that while both Waltz's Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Malek's Safin are both confirmed to appear in No Time To Die, one of them will likely be the central antagonist. Safin has thus far been positioned as the movie's premier big bad, but things might not be that simple, with some theorizing that Blofeld is the movie's real villain.
Little is known about Safin at this point, but there's no question the producers have set him up as the central villain in No Time To Die. The film's official synopsis mentions a "mysterious villain" in possession of a "dangerous new technology," but that's about it. Teaser posters and the film's trailer have also confirmed Safin will be heavily scarred, carrying on a long Bond tradition of facial scarring among its antagonists. Safin can also be seen in the trailer wearing a shattered mask that gives off some serious Phantom of the Opera vibes. It's also been revealed the Egyptian-American Malek insisted Safin not be a religious fundamentalist, and according to a Bond line from the trailer the villain is actually more concerned with "playing god". Beyond that, there's not a lot to go on when it comes to the mysterious new Bond foe.
With that said, Safin is clearly being touted as the central villain of the movie. In an interview, long-time Bond producer Barbara Broccoli said that Safin "really is the supervillain" who "gets under Bond's skin." Director Fukunaga has also revealed that Safin is "hyper-intelligent" and a "worthy adversary" for Bond. In comparison Waltz's return as Blofeld hasn't been nearly as hyped, with his brief scene in the trailer simply hinting at the villain taunting Bond from a high-security prison cell. As it stands then, Malek's Safin is all set to be the next big Bond baddie.
At the end of Spectre, Bond chooses to have Blofeld arrested rather than kill him – a significant change of pace for the franchise, which usually dispatches its supervillains in elaborate ways. Now, the iconic villain is set to reappear in No Time To Die, and judging by the trailer Blofeld could be taking on somewhat of a Hannibal Lecter role – providing Bond with information about his new adversary from the confines of his cell. Such a plot dynamic would be positive in the sense it would give Safin more of the spotlight, but negative in the sense it could be yet another anti-climactic outing for Bond's premier foe. Either way, there's certainly potential for the dual-villain setup to derail the movie's plot, which suggests Fukunaga and his team have likely given one villain the spotlight, relegating the other to more of a support role.
Blofeld is the most recognizable villain in the Bond canon. The character has appeared in eight Bond films thus far, making him the villain with the most recurring appearances. Blofeld has been recast several times over the course of the 007 movies but his scarred visage has become synonymous with 007's tribulations throughout the years, and as such, the character's return in No Time To Die could mean another "it was Blofeld the whole time" twist. There's no doubt Waltz's uninspired performance in Spectre left both critics and audiences cold, but the character is still a big deal in the world of 007, and as such, his presence could very easily overshadow Safin's debut.
Whether Fukunaga and co. can resist the urge to try to redeem Waltz's Blofeld in favor of giving Safin the spotlight remains to be seen. Based on the trailer, Waltz's smug villain once again knows something Bond doesn't, delivering a wry line about how when Madeline Swann's secret "finds its way out, it'll be the death of [Bond]." Given Blofeld's history in the Bond saga of engineering numerous nefarious plots in films where he doesn't even appear, there's every chance the filmmakers have arranged for a "Blofeld did it" twist. It would be a shame, though, as this is essentially the idea behind the problem-laden Spectre where Blofeld is revealed to be the "author of all [Bond's] pain" as he puts it.
That said, there's absolutely no indication that Waltz is onboard for more than a cameo at this time around. What's more, if Blofeld does prove the theories are accurate and break out of prison having orchestrated whatever evil plot Bond encounters in No Time To Die, that would seem pretty similar to the plot of Skyfall, where Javier Bardem's Raoul Silva gets captured only to reveal he was planning his arrest all along and had been orchestrating things behind the scenes the whole time. Successful though that film was, audiences certainly don't need another "he wanted to get caught" moment this time around.
Having Safin be the real villain in No Time To Die makes more sense for the franchise. Of course, much of the answer to the question of the film's "real" villain comes down to how fans define "real". Blofeld could very well be pulling some strings behind the scenes, and certainly seems to be in the know based on the trailer. But considering Fukunaga's claim that Safin is part of "a new generation of bad guys," it seems the filmmakers are (rightly) eager to move beyond the anti-climax that was Waltz's Blofeld. In order to do that, Safin could well have been designed as an attempt to introduce an even more formidable foe than Blofeld to the Bond universe – an evolution of the Bond villain.
What would be more exciting for Craig's departure from the role than seeing the most prolific and powerful villain in Bond history outdone by someone even more sinister? Of course, there's rumors that Safin could in fact turn out to be a modern incarnation of classic Bond rogue Dr. No, but those theories were seemingly debunked. That same ad also suggested that Safin could in fact be a common enemy of both Bond and Blofeld, which really would make Safin the real villain of No Time To Die. As it stands, Safin really does look to be the man behind whatever trials Bond experiences in the film – regardless of whether Blofeld has a hand in his machinations.
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