The future of theJames Bond franchiseis very much a mystery right now, but we do have a new potential villain for the series. Well, at least we have someone who wants to play a Bond villain. In a recent interview, German filmmakerWerner Herzogthrew his hat into the ring, saying he would make a goodJames Bondbad guy.
The director/actor/screenwriter was recently interviewed byBusiness Insiderregarding his latest movie, the Netflix OriginalInto the Inferno. During the course of the chat, the subject of playing aJames Bondvillain came up andWerner Herzognot only expressed interest, but seemed very confident in his ability to play the part well. Here is what he had to say.
“I think I would be a good villain in a James Bond movie…They were fairly weak the last half-dozen of villains in James Bond movies. They weren’t that convincing.”
Werner Herzogis most well known as adirector, but he does step in front of the camera from time to time. In this particular instance, it is worth pointing out that he played the villain inTom Cruise’sJack Reacherback in 2012. That movie didn’t exactly win everyone over on all fronts, butWerner Herzogwas easily one of the best parts of that movie and it essentially could serve as a pretty solid audition for a future Bond villain. According to Business Insider, he has been offered quite a few villain roles for other movies, but passed on them because he felt they were “silly.” Being that we are no longer in theRoger Mooreera of Bond, it seems highly unlikely that a new007villain would be silly.
It is also worth noting thatWerner Herzogfelt the need to call out the last “half-dozen” Bond villains for being weak. That is a pretty bold statement, considering that list would include actors likeMads Mikkelsen,Javier BardemandChristoph Waltz. On the flip side, it is easy to see why he might say that about movies likeQuantum of SolaceandDie Another Day. Still, it is interesting to say that actors of that caliber weren’t convincing, especially in the case ofMads MikkelsenandJavier Bardem, who were in two of the most highly-regardedJames Bondmovies of all time,Casino RoyaleandSkyfallrespectively.
In any case, it is pretty difficult to consider talking about thenext Bondvillain when we don’t even know who will be playing the title role inJames Bond25. It seemed likeDaniel Craigwas pretty much done with it and that someone likeTom HiddlestonorIdris Elbawould be stepping in. But recently,Daniel Craigexpressed interest in returning and has now made things even more confusing as to whether or not he will return to the role one last time. Sony and MGM certainly want him back and fans would very likely want to see his 007 finish on a high note.
That being said, ifDaniel Craigdoes return forJames Bond 25, it is likely thatChristoph Waltzwould reprise his role as Blofeld fromSpectre. That is not to say that there wouldn’t be room for another villain, but it would definitely lessen the chances that someone likeWerner Herzogcould step in and be the main bad guy in the nextJames Bondmovie. However, ifDaniel Craigdoesn’t return, that would leave the door wide open, so who knows?
