'Bond 25': Christoph Waltz to return as Ernst Blofeld
Potentially bad news for you Bond + Swann shippers.
As it turns out, Christoph Waltz will return as series super-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. This according to The Guardian, who first broke the news that the 62-year-old Oscar winner has been spotted at Pinewood Studios.
Variety has since confirmed that Waltz is indeed returning to play Bond’s longtime nemesis but in a “backseat” role with Rami Malek cast as Bond 25’s mysterious villain.
In April, Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge boarded the project at the request of Daniel Craig to give the screenplay a polish after exchanging hands from Bond veterans Neil Purvis and Robert Wade, and Bourne Ultimatum’s Scott Z. Burns. Waller-Bridge becomes only the second woman in the history of the franchise to receive a script credit following Johanna Harwood’s work on Dr. No and From Russia with Love. Which merits a ton of love outside our sheer excitement just to see Waller-Bridge give the women of Bond the proper treatment they deserve.
It’s speculated that "Bond 25" will complete Craig’s character arc as 007 in a story that reportedly involves genetic engineering. And now with Blofeld's return, it's hard to imagine the outlook for Spectre's seemingly happy couple - Madeleine Swann and James Bond - will be anything but short-lived (see George Lazenby's 'On Her Majesty’s Secret Service'.
We shall see.
"Bond 25" is scheduled for release April 3, 2020, in the UK and April 8, 2020, in the U.S.
