In 2006, the James Bond franchise received a substantial makeover that was a breath of fresh air for fans of 007. Daniel Craig introduced a darker, grittier (and blonder) version of MI6’s most prized ᴀsset, along with a sense of narrative and tonal continuity between movies which prioritized authenticity over glamor. This reinvention of Bond was an unprecedented critical and commercial success, particularly in the cases of Casino Royale, with its tragic climax, and Skyfall, with its emotionally-charged personal story. But 2015’s Spectre changed things up again, by bringing back the most iconic Bond villain in history, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Blofeld wasn’t back in his original form as depicted in Ian Fleming’s James Bond books – a maniacal, cat-stroking supervillain – but recast as 007’s jealous foster brother. Played by incomparable big-screen baddie Christoph Waltz, this Blofeld was even retroactively made responsible for the events of 2008’s Quantum of Solace, which previously had any involvement from Blofeld’s SPECTRE. Far from enhancing Daniel Craig’s 007 story, however, the imposition of Blofeld and SPECTRE overcomplicated and undermined it for viewers who had grown attached to the distinctive elements of this more grounded version of James Bond.

The Blofeld & Spectre Retcon Was Awkward

It Didn’t Fit Into Daniel Craig’s James Bond Universe

From 1981 onwards , Eon productions effectively gave up the rights to Blofeld and his terrorist organization SPECTRE in further James Bond movies, with the character at the center of a legal dispute between Eon and producer Kevin McClory. Once Eon acquired the rights to McClory’s estate – which included the Ian Fleming script from which Ernst Stravro Blofeld originated – in 2013, they were free to use the villain and his evil organization again. They didn’t waste much time, either, reintroducing Blofeld at the earliest opportunity, in 2015’s Spectre.

This movie not only retconned one of the oldest and best-known villains in the James Bond movie franchise into Daniel Craig’s 007 universe, four films in. It somehow made Christoph Waltz’s iteration of Blofeld the mastermind behind Quantum’s attempted monopolization of Bolivia’s water supply in the earlier Bond movie Quantum of Solace. What’s more, Spectre gave Ernst Stavro Blofeld a whole new backstory, making him the adoptive brother of none other than James Bond himself.

These bizarre twists made it feel as though the team behind Spectre were overreaching in their introduction of Blofeld. Their rewriting of Bond and Blofeld’s history felt awkward and jarring in the context of the coherent world-building achieved by the first three 007 movies starring Daniel Craig.

Christoph Waltz Was Great, But He Didn’t Need To Be Blofeld

The Actor Could Have Played A New & Original Bond Villain

Few actors working today can claim to play a villain as well as Christoph Waltz, who’s big break in Hollywood was giving one of the performances that defined Quentin Tarantino’s career as a director. It was surely Waltz’s show-stealing turn as Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds that landed him the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Bond films Spectre and No Time to Die.

The actor is perfectly suited to playing one of the most significant Bond villains of his generation. It just didn’t have to be a character who’d already been done to death in the James Bond franchise, and who didn’t fit into Daniel Craig’s Bond timeline. Waltz would have been much better as an original villain, who he could have shaped on his own terms, without being hamstrung by Spectre’s botched attempts to pay homage to previous iteration of Blofeld, while crowbarring him into this new version of Bond at the same time.

Giving Bond An Evil Brother Would’ve Been Better If It Wasn’t Blofeld

This Major Rewrite Of Blofeld’s Backstory Undermined His Credibility As A Character

The sibling who’s strayed to the dark side is an age-old storytelling trope, that could have worked quite well in a James Bond narrative, if only Spectre’s screenwriters hadn’t chosen to make 007’s evil brother his greatest adversary in the history of the franchise. Christoph Waltz himself has defended this Blofeld twist in terms of the sheer drama it invokes. But pretty much everyone else who’d ever heard of Ernst Stavro Blofeld before seeing the movie must have found it clumsy and contrived.

Blofeld is part of cinematic tradition more than any other antagonist to James Bond. Trampling all over this legacy for the sake of a dramatic conceit was never going to be well-received, even among moviegoers who wouldn’t consider themselves fans of the franchise.

Daniel Craig’s 007 Story Would Have Made More Sense Sticking With Quantum

Trying To Bring Blofeld & SPECTRE Into The Mix Backfired

When production finally starts for James Bond 26, perhaps there’ll be room to reboot Blofeld and SPECTRE once again. But for Daniel Craig’s Bond cinematic universe, there was simply no need to introduce such a major villain so late in the day. Quantum, the evil organization headed by Mathieu Amalric’s Dominic Greene in Quantum of Solace, could have served precisely the same purpose without the awkward retcon that introducing SPECTRE involved.

The arrival of Blofeld onto the scene also did a disservice to one of the Daniel Craig era’s best Bond villains, Jesper Christensen’s Mr. White, whose reintroduction in Spectre was underplayed to make room for Waltz’s new character. Spectre and No Time to Die tried to have their cake and eat it, by continuing to take the James Bond franchise in new and exciting directions while harking back to the past. The convergence of these contradictory motivations ultimately backfired, as exemplified by the criminal misuse of Christoph Waltz as an actor.

Blofeld’s Role Added Very Little To No Time To Die

His Death Scene Cameo Proved How Unnecessary The Character Was

Waltz’s role as Blofeld in 2021’s No Time to Die is effectively a cameo, which adds next to nothing to the plot of the movie at the same time as exposing just how badly the actor was mishandled by the franchise. If those behind the movie had nailed their colors to the mast by reintroducing Blofeld in Spectre, then they could at least have tried to make his return work in No Time to Die. Most fans were initially expecting Blofeld to be the movie’s main Bond villain instead of Lyutsifer Safin, which would have given Christoph Waltz the larger role he deserved.

On the contrary, his actual part in the most recent movie of the James Bond franchise may as well not have been there. No Time to Die underscored how unnecessary bringing Ernst Stavro Blofeld into the world of Daniel Craig’s James Bond was in the first place. Unfortunately, Blofeld’s return ended up devaluing the legendary character, as well as the actor playing him.