Following his Best Oscar win for Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek’s career is poised to take off. For his first major role following his career-altering performance as Freddie Mercury, the actor is getting into the franchise game in a big way as the villain in the next James Bond movie No Time To Die. In the upcoming film, he will join the pantheon of Bond baddies as a villain that goes by the name Safin, who is said to be ‘a nasty piece of work.’
We have yet to see a trailer for No Time To Die or even a promotional image of what Rami Malek will look like in the film, but if Bond producer Barbara Broccoli’s description of Safin is anything to go by, Daniel Craig’s James Bond will have a particularly tough go of things this time around. Barbara Broccoli said that No Time To Die throws everything they can at Bond in the form of Rami Malek’s Safin. She described Safin thusly:
He is really the supervillain. He’s the one that really gets under Bond’s skin. He’s a nasty piece of work.
If this is indeed Daniel Craig’s last time as 007, it sounds like he will be facing off with a character that may very well be his greatest foe yet. Safin is a bad guy, that’s a given, but by Barbara Broccoli’s description to Empire Magazine, he sounds like he is a particularly despicable one. All Bond villains are evil in their own way but it sounds like Safin might be extra malicious and despicable.
This won’t just be a villain that Bond is at odds with as a matter of duty either, it seems that Rami Malek’s Safin will perhaps do something that really shatters 007’s steely cool demeanor. Calling him a supervillain is also interesting and it makes you wonder what makes this guy the big bad and likely the final boss of Daniel Craig’s run, especially after he faced off with franchise villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre.
We know that James Bond will start the film in retirement, living a peaceful life in Jamaica when Jeffrey Wright’s Felix Leiter asks for his help to track down a kidnapped scientist. That leads him to a mysterious villain in possession of dangerous technology. Perhaps this technology and the will to use it is what will set Rami Malek’s baddie apart. We know he will not be a religious terrorist though.
Part of what’s so intriguing about Rami Malek playing this character is it is such a stark contrast to what he is most known for. Rami Malek’s biggest roles have been as good guys. In the Night at the Museum franchise, his Ahkmenrah is a good guy and in his breakout role in Mr. Robot, Elliot Alderson is the protagonist, a protagonist who does some questionable things and plays in gray areas, but a good guy nonetheless.
In Bohemian Rhapsody, he played a positively beloved real-life person so to go from that to a nasty villain will be a fun transition for audiences and I imagine the actor as well. With any luck, we’ll get a trailer soon and we can finally get a look at this supervillain.
No Time To Die hits theaters on April 8, 2020. Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to see all of the big movies coming our way next year.
