In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, producer Barbara Broccoli suggested that they might cast the next James Bond villain before casting Bond himself: “We start by thinking about, ‘Who’s the Bond villain?’ We try to focus on that as the sort of uber story.” Whoever menaces 007 next will have some big shoes to fill.
From Jaws throwing 007 out of a plane in Moonraker to Franz Sanchez murdering Felix Leiter’s wife in License to Kill, some Bond villains have had unforgettable introductions.
Dr. Julius No In Dr. No
The very first Bond movie villain, the eponymous SPECTRE member in Dr. No, still holds up as one of the most memorable. Like many of the antagonists who would follow, Dr. Julius No is a megalomaniac with a god complex and a grandiose evil plan.
Joseph Wiseman makes for a truly ominous on-screen presence in the role, making a stunning debut when Bond and Honey Ryder have been captured and brought to his lair and he delivers a monologue about SPECTRE’s sinister purpose.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld In Spectre
Bond fans were polarized by the handling of Blofeld’s Craig-era reinvention in Spectre. Introducing him as Franz Oberhauser before revealing he’s really Ernst Stavro Blofeld seemed like an unnecessary twist akin to introducing Khan as John Harrison in Star Trek Into Darkness.
But regardless of the script’s handling of the character, Christoph Waltz gave a brilliantly nuanced performance in the role and he gets an unforgettable debut hiding in the shadows at the head of the table in a SPECTRE meeting.
Elektra King In The World Is Not Enough
Initially, Renard, the world’s most wanted terrorist, is introduced as the villain of The World is Not Enough. The storyline is a riff on The Bodyguard as 007 is assigned to protect heiress Elektra King after her father is assassinated and their dynamic quickly turns romantic.
But there’s a surprising twist waiting with the revelation that Elektra is in cahoots with Renard and she’s the mastermind behind his diabolical actions. In a classic villain monologue, Elektra reveals that she killed her father before kidnapping M.
Jaws In Moonraker
Jaws became one of the only Bond villains to return for a second movie after the overwhelmingly positive fan response to the character’s debut in The Spy Who Loved Me. Jaws makes a scene-stealing return under the employment of Hugo Drax in Moonraker.
In the thrilling cold open of Moonraker, Bond is unexpectedly interrupted during a romantic rendezvous on a private plane when Jaws opens the door and throws him out at a dizzying altitude.
Lyutsifer Safin In No Time To Die
The opening scene of No Time to Die is closer to a horror movie than a spy thriller. The prologue takes place years before the rest of the film, with a young Madeleine Swann fending off an attack by a masked assailant with a personal vendetta against her absent father, Mr. White.
With his creepy white mask, Safin is ripped straight from a slasher. He’s as terrifying as Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, even if he is effortlessly defeated by a child.
Franz Sanchez In License To Kill
Timothy Dalton’s second and last Bond film, License to Kill, is controversial for its dark tone and gruesome violence. This dark tone is established in the opening act of the movie as drug lord Franz Sanchez murders Felix Leiter’s wife and maims Leiter himself in retaliation for Leiter and 007’s investigation into his empire.
This opening instantly establishes the grisly turn this movie will take from the usual Bond formula, and makes the audience hate Sanchez just as much as Bond before the iconic spy pursues vengeance.
Red Grant In From Russia With Love
In the convoluted opening scene of From Russia with Love, the second ever Bond film, Bond is seemingly killed a couple of minutes into the movie. But it turns out to be a decoy 007 in an elaborate SPECTRE training exercise. SPECTRE is hoping to dispatch Bond to avenge his killing of Dr. No in the previous movie.
Successfully assassinating the decoy earns henchman Red Grant the job of assassinating Bond. When he catches up with 007 on the Orient Express, one of the franchise’s most brutal fight scenes ensues.
Raoul Silva In Skyfall
When the identities of MI6 agents start getting leaked online in Skyfall, Bond pursues the culprit to an abandoned island off the coast of Macau, where he’s promptly captured and taken straight to the villain.
Like all the best Bond villains, Raoul Silva introduces himself with a mysterious monologue. Javier Bardem, of course, knocks this monologue out of the park, playing Silva as both camp and unsettling.
Alec Trevelyan In GoldenEye
Alec Trevelyan is initially introduced as Bond’s ally in the opening set-piece of GoldenEye. He’s one number behind Bond with the 00 designation of 006. Tragedy seemingly strikes and Trevelyan seemingly dies, so Bond spends the first half of the film in mourning, filled with guilt that he caused his co-worker’s demise.
And then, at the midpoint, he’s shocked to learn that, not only is Trevelyan alive and well; he’s the evil “Janus” he’s been chasing the whole movie.
Francisco Scaramanga In The Man With The Golden Gun
Fans and critics agree that The Man with the Golden Gun is one of the weakest Bond films, but they also agree that Francisco Scaramanga is one of the series’ greatest villains. Scaramanga’s entire grudge against Bond is built around wanting to prove that he’s truly the best assassin in the world.
In the opening scene, set on Scaramanga’s private island, an American gangster arrives to kill Scaramanga for the bounty on his head. This sequence establishes everything audiences need to know about the villain and foreshadows the finale as the gangster is directed into a funhouse and killed by Scaramanga’s titular golden gun.