As far as movie properties go, there are few quite as iconic as the James Bond franchise. 007's adventures have captivated moviegoers for decades, and Eon Productions is showing no signs of slowing down. The next installment is Cary Joji Fukunaga's No Time to Die, which will be Daniel Craig's fifth and final movie playing Bond. Rami Malek will be making his debut as the mysterious scarred villain Safin in the upcoming blockbuster, although there's a new fan theory that he might actually be the infamous Bond villain Dr. No.
1962' Dr. No was the very first James Bond movie, and it was named after movie's primary antagonist. Actor Joseph Wiseman played the OG Bond villain, a brilliant science with a napoleon complex. No apart of the criminal organization SPECTRE, which has became a major entity during Daniel Craig's tenure as 007. Rami Malek was recently asked about the popular fan theory that his character Safin might end up being Dr. No, to which he said:
I heard that. Am I? I mean, isn’t that an exciting thing to consider all the way up to the release?
Well, that's certainly cryptic. It looks like Rami Malek is indeed familiar with the rumors about his No Time to Die villain having another identity entirely. But obviously he can't comment or give any real answer until the highly anticipated blockbuster is released.
Rami Malek's comments to Esquire will likely only fan the fuels of his No Time to Die fan theories. The movie's plot is being thoroughly kept under wraps, although it looks like it'll be an accumulation of the last four movies. Daniel Craig's tenure as Bond as seen the embrace of serialized storytelling, so smart money says Malek's Safin has an even more significant role than we realize.
During his same interview Rami Malek did tease that "there is a resurgence of an Ian Fleming influence on this film", meaning that No Time to Die will have a deeper connection to the original novels. Bringing Dr. No in would be a great way to do that, and would no doubt thrill the hardcore fandom.
Bringing Dr. No into the story would actually make a great deal of sense, especially considering how Spectre went down. Obviously the last Bond movie introduced the criminal enterprise of the same name, possibly offering a connection for Dr. No to make his big entrance. What's more, the last movie also brought another iconic Bond villain back to the big screen: Christoph Waltz's Blofeld. Adding another big name would definitely be an epic way to send Daniel Craig off.
All will be revealed when No Time to Die hits theaters on April 10th. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
