move on. The only thing that could bring Blofeld
back was a miracle.•••
THEN, THOUGH, THAT miracle happened. in
2013, The estate of Kevin McClory, who died in
2006, agreed to a settlement with Eon that brought
Blofeld and SPECTRE back into the offi cial fold. In
the nefarious one’s absence, a rebooted timeline
saw James Bond (Daniel Craig) up against another
criminal organisation, Quantum, and its boss Mr
White — both clearly inspired by, if not direct
substitutions for, SPECTRE and Blofeld. But by
Craig ’s fourth turn in the tux, 2015’s Spectre, the
legal path was clear to resurrect the dead. So, 34
years after he hit rock bottom, Ernst Stavro Blofeld
waltzed back into James Bond’s life.
“It upped the ante and the stakes shifted
in the scene,” director Sam Mendes toldEmpire
of the moment when Bond’s captor, Franz
Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), reveals his newly
adopted moniker. While some hardcore fans griped
about the retconning of the Craig era, which
allowed this most self-aware of all the Blofelds
to refer to himself as “the author of all [Bond’s]
pain”, casual moviegoers were delighted by the
return of a familiar character and his faithful pet.
Blofeld’s return represented an affectionate
celebration of the franchise’s past. His history may
have been rewritten, but he was the same evil
schemer. Played by Waltz with chilling stillness and
a menacing disregard for socks, he still favoured
the Nehru collar, and still ran the SPECTRE
boardroom with characteristic callousness. And
in recognition of the series’ best-remembered
Blofeld, he acquires Donald Pleasence’s scar, at
the hands of none other than Bond himself.
In tribute to the character’s admirable
staying power, Blofeld survivesSpectre, although
he doesn’t escape — a thoughtfully scripted effort
to redeem Bond’s blood-stained soul. “[Bond]
has to win, and not kill [Blofeld],” Mendes said.
“He has to take the moral high ground.”
Of course, the most positive outcome of
Blofeld’s survival is his return inNo Time To Die.
Having been banged up at Her Majesty’s pleasure,
it seems Bond’s eternal nemesis will be called upon,
Lecter-like, to shed light on a mystery surrounding
secretive psychologist Madeleine Swann (Léa
Seydoux) and new villain Safin (Rami Malek).
Blofeld’s future will always remain a surprise.
But his place in the canon of great movie villains
is secure, and his reputation as Bond’s most iconic
adversary means he’ll never be farawayfrom
aggravating the world’s greatest secret agent. On at
least his seventh life and counting, it seems Ernst
Stavro Blofeld won’t be retiring anytime soon.NO TIME TO DIEIS IN CINEMAS ON 8 APRILLeft: Bond
(Sean Connery)
and Gray’s
Blofeld
clash again
in Diamonds
Are Forever.
Below:
Blofeld — real
name Franz
Oberhauser
— returns
in 2015’s
Spectre, here
with Léa
Seydoux’s
Madeleine
Swann.