James Bond Will Return In Spectre
Chris Scalzo
I guess we're going to just jump right into it. There have been rumblings since the release of ‘Skyfall’ that the Bond franchise will be getting back to its roots. ‘Skyfall’ brought us the return of Q and Ms. Moneypenny and it appears we’re all in. Heck, they’ve even named the film ‘Spectre’, a bit on the nose, no?
So where has Spectre (the organization) been in the relaunched franchise? Wasn’t Quantum supposed to be replacing them as the super secret bad guy group in the Bond reboot?
Well, we have to go back to the debacle that was ‘Never Say Never Again’, well, truly ‘Thunderball’. ‘Thunderball’ was co-written and produced with Kevin McClory. McClory worked with Ian Fleming and writer Jack Whittingham to develop ‘Thunderball’. McClory asserted he was largely responsible for many of the traits that made Bond relatable for film. So MGM and Danjaq have been in a constant state of dispute with McClory for over 50 years as to who owned what part of the Bond mythos; things like Spectre and one pretty big bad guy. McClory exercised his rights back in 1983 to produce ‘Never Say Never Again’ and even lured Connery back to the role.
If you didn't get the live action poster symbol, here's the original Spectre logo.
Though McClory passed away in 2006, his estate continued to put up the good fight, but in 2013 the adversaries finally came to an agreement and settled the matter. And now we get Spectre back.
Time will tell if Quantum will still be in play. Perhaps revealed to be a part of Spectre in the new film? Either way, the other exciting news regarding the settlement is the potential return of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond’s archenemy and the killer of his wife (old continuity). The internets are ablaze like a rocket hiding volcano with rumors that Christoph Waltz is playing the part. Sounds like perfect casting to me, though technically Waltz’s character is named Oberhauser. Methinks it’s a clever ruse ala Cumberbatch’s Harrison/Khan. (Yeah, nobody figured out that one)
The latest addition to the cast is Andrew Scott. Scott garnered attention as Moriarty in the Sherlock relaunch. He’s said to play a new member of MI:6, but is also been said to be the main villain, so if Waltz is indeed Blofeld, he’ll probably play more an ancillary role… for now! (insert evil laugh and cat petting)
The cast is rounded out by Monica Belucci and Lea Seydoux as our female leads, Dave Bautista as our heavy and the return of Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Wishaw as Q, Rory Kinner as Tanner, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, and a brand new Aston Martin DB10.
Filming is set for Monday and to be shot in Pinewood Studios London, Rome, Mexico City, Tangier, Morocco and the Alps in Austria. Spectre is set to be released on November 6, 2015.
Check out the full announcement below:
Author’s note: I was drinking a martini and listening the Bond film scores the whole time I wrote this.