When it comes to Bond movies, iconography is everything. Even director Martin Campbell’s strikingly different Casino Royale maintained certain aspects of Bond lore that have become tradition, like the martini, the “Bond, James Bond” line, the Bond girl(s), and of course, the Bond villain. It’s that last one that can be particularly tricky, as Bond villains tend to be either just the right amount of over-the-top (see: Skyfall’s Silva) or they tip over into cartoonish territory (see: a lot of other Bond villains).
So it’s with great anticipation that fans are eager to see who plays Daniel Craig’s foil in the upcoming Bond 25, and we now have a bit of an idea of the direction in which they’re going. Buried in Variety’s report confirming Lea Seydoux will reprise her Spectre role in the film is the news that Rami Malek was being eyed for the Bond 25 villain role. However, his schedule shooting Mr. Robot’s final season—which is poised to run from March through July of next year—appears to have prevented him from moving forward, although Variety says things didn’t progress so far as for Eon to straight-up offer him the part. Production on Bond 25 is scheduled to begin in March as well.
This is an interesting tidbit, and Malek is red-hot at the moment coming off his acclaimed performance as Freddie Mercury in the film Bohemian Rhapsody, which could net him an Oscar nomination. It’s also interesting because Said Taghmaoui, who is of Moroccan descent, previously said he was under consideration to play the Bond 25 villain when Danny Boyle was directing the film. Malek is of Egyptian descent.
When Boyle left Bond 25 over creative differences, it was reported that the script he worked on with John Hodge was being tossed and a new one was being written. That’s still true, but with Malek’s consideration, could it be possible aspects of the Boyle/Hodge script are being used in this new version of the film that Cary Joji Fukunaga is directing? Or it’s also entirely possible that I’m reading far too much into this.
Whatever the case, Malek would’ve been exciting casting, and I’m eager to see who Fukunaga and Eon settle on to square off against Craig in what could be the actor’s final outing as Bond. Just please don’t bring Christoph Waltz back. Let’s all pretend that Spectre Blofeld nonsense never happened, okay?
