Warning: Spectre spoilers below
Look, we aren’t going to beat around the bush on this one: Spectre was a massive letdown of a Bond movie. That being said, it still set the stage for some potentially great showdowns between James Bond and Ernst Stavro Blofeld. For the latter role as longtime franchise villain, Christoph Waltz is reportedly on board to return – but he has some concessions.
Numerous UK tabloids and news sites have been reporting that Christoph Waltz will only return to the Bond franchise as Ernst Stavro Blofeld if Daniel Craig returns as James Bond. His primary reason for this is the maintenance of “continuity,” despite the fact that this is something the 007 movies have ever exactly been great at maintaining. Waltz is a stellar actor with an impeccable resume; one would hope that if he opts to return to the Bond franchise that he will be given more screen time, as opposed to being hidden behind a plot twist that fans saw coming a mile away.
It makes some degree of sense to make this sort of request. Daniel Craig’s Bond and Christoph Waltz’ Blofeld share a greater personal history together unlike any iterations of the characters before them ever did. Establishing such a personal connection with Craig’s Bond in Spectre only for him to be recast in the next movie would probably not instill much confidence in audiences.
That being said, whether or not Daniel Craig returns to the franchise remains to be seen. Over the last few months, we have heard conflicting reports; some indicate that Craig wishes to play the character as long as he is physically able to, while others indicate that the actor no longer has any wish to play the womanizing, martini drinking spy.
Of course, even if Christoph Waltz decides not to return to the 007 franchise, they can still use the Ernst Stavro Blofeld character. Over the course of decades many actors ranging from Donald Pleasance in You Only Live Twice to Telly Savalas of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service played the character. The character of Blofeld was finally killed by Roger Moore's iteration of Bond in the 1970s during the events of For Your Eyes Only; it wasn't until the release of Spectre that the iconic British agent and his longtime foe met again on screen. Ultimately, it has us wondering if the modern age even needs a Blofeld for Bond to contend with, or if the character belongs in Bond's campy past.
Only time will tell for sure if either of these men returns to the iconic franchise. The DVD release of Spectre is currently slated for February 9.
