The final James Bond outing for any actor, is a big event. Given the numerous delays and release shifts that No Time To Die has faced, it says a lot that anticipation is still relatively high. Maybe it’s the action-packed trailers. Or Cary Fukunaka nestling into the director’s chair. Or, as mentioned before, this being Daniel Craig’s last time shooting down the varrel. While those are likely answers, one of the most obvious ones is that Oscar winner Rami Malek is the film’s featured villain. In case that wasn’t at the top of your list, the marketing team behind the film have revealed this look, given you a chance to meet Safin.
Here’s a quick refresher of the official synopsis:
“In No Time To Die, Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected. Leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.”
Is Safin 007’s most terrifying adversary? It’s tough to say, but with the piece here and the chaos in display in the trailers, signs seem to be pushing that direction. Having Malek bring his particular brand of intensity to the role fits with this the villains of this current run. Mads Mikkelsen. Javier Bardem. David Bautista. Ok, so maybe not really that last one, but if we had to bring up the specter of Spectre, that’s how we’d want to do it. Disregarding that, the adversaries Bond has been up against in the last 15 years have been of a different sort. Molded in the image of the current world. For better or worse. It’s an element that helps keep the series fresh, even after roughly 60 years.
From the glorious vistas to the fancy cars to the lethal Safin, No Time To Die is poised to be one of the biggest Bond adventures left. Will it also end up being the best? We’ll just have to find out when it blasts onto the screen, on November 20, 2020.
