When news broke that the new Bond flick would focus on Spectre, a sinister and shadowy operation
that will wreak havoc on Bond and MI6 from the inside, I pointed out that was pretty
much was the exact plot of Captain America The Winter Soldier.
(WHISPER) Hail Hydra!
But apparently Spectre has plenty of its own loyal agents out there, who let me know that
while Hydra debuted in Marvel Comics in 1965, Spectre debuted in the Ian Fleming novels
in 1961 and then the feature films in 1962!
Hmm...like Bond AND Rogers, my interest was peaked and I decided to dig futher.
Here’s what I found out!
See while Hydra wants its name out there - so many memes!
- Spectre is so secretive you’ve been watching the group’s evil deeds in Bond movies for
decades and not even realized it!
Perhaps because so many of us watch them as kids, where - um, a LOT of stuff goes over
our heads...
So anyway, Dr No simply worked for Spectre which is in fact run by Emilio Largo and Ernst
Stavro Blofeld.
It seems they were to having matching eyepatches, but Blofeld changed his mind at the last minute.
Not cool, man.
Oh - do these two look familiar?
That’s because Mike Meyers famously parodied them in his Austin Powers films with Dr Evil
and Number Two - although Largo is actually referred to as Number Two in the films.
As for Dr Evil, well Meyers didn’t have to do much to make fun of a character ripe
for parody.
It wasn’t Fleming’s idea, but in the movies Blofeld really does like to stroke a white
persian cat and really does wear that pants suit - apparently, even Meyers thought the
monocle was too much.
And Blofeld not only inspired Dr Evil, but also Mr Han in Enter the Dragon and, how awesome
is this, Dr Claw from Inspector Gadget!
The bar’s been raised pretty high for Christoph Waltz, who many suspect isn’t really playing
“Franz Oberhauser” but in fact the new Blofeld, previously portrayed by Donald Pleasence,
Telly Savalas, Charley Gray and Max Von Sydow.
But in this new era of a more serious, realistic Bond, can Blofeld really be played straight
- and still be effective as an iconic Bond villain?
I mean, at this point the cat’s ridiculous, but how can you have Blofeld without the cat?!
THAT would be ridiculous.
The reason Fleming created Spectre, and why the movies so quickly adopted it, is because
this fictional organization with no national affiliation allows Bond’s adventures to
be apolitical - great for the box office, and great for distributor Sony for...obvious
reasons.
Now the rebooted Bond has actually been setting up Spectre for quite some time.
Remember Quantum?!
No?!
Yeah, the Bond movies have once again been a little too subtle, but basically this organization
plagued Bond in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace - usually through their agent Mr
White.
You kinda remember Mr White, right?
Well it seems Quantum is actually a cover for Spectre!
Or perhaps they just merged and went with Spectre for brand recognition...
Anyway, as Bond’s support team comes into focus over at MI6 with M, Q and Moneypenny,
it looks like Spectre is also coming into focus with Blofeld, Mr White and someone named
Mr Hinx, played by former WWE Champion and Guardians of the Galaxy co-star Dave Bautista.
Wow, now that’s some old school Bond casting!
It does indeed seem that the Bond franchise is slipping into old habbits, which is weird
considering that the new habbits earned the franchise its first billion dollar flick with
Skyfall.
Then again perhaps this new Bond film is simply going meta, a trend that’s just as popular
these days as dark, serious and realistic.
So, are you excited about Spectre, or do you think the new Bond shouldn’t look back?
And forget shaken or stirred, do you prefer you Bond serious or with camp?
Can Christoph Waltz even DO serious?
While holding a cat?
Write your thoughts down below.
I’m Grace Randolph and this has been a Movie Byte!
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