007 fans from the golden days of Sean Connery would be all too familiar with the organisation SPECTRE, which is firstmentioned in Dr. No (1962) and last seen inDiamonds Are Forever(1971) – consequently also the last time the iconic Connery portrayed Bond.
SPECTRE, or the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion (as it isknown in full), is a global syndicate that seem to share the opposite values of MI6. Traditionally they have been lead by the cunning Ernst Stavro Blofeld – whom Christoph Waltz was rumoured to be playing. The bald Blofeld was also the villain who strikingly petted a white Persian cat, which may be more familiar to some through the character parodying him in Dr. Evil of Austin Powers.
Although Waltz shows up in the trailer donning the same uniform as the evil Blofeld, his character at this stage is listed as Franz Oberhauser. Former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista is also on board playing the hulking Mr. Hinx, who looks to be well equipped to handle Bond physically.
All the major players from Skyfall, the most successful Bond film yet, are back including Daniel Craig, director Sam Mendes, and writer John Logan. Voluptuous Italian beauty Monica Belluci forms one half of the new ‘Bond Girls’ with French starlet Lea Seydoux the other.
Like Skyfall before it SPECTRE looks set to push even further into the mysterious backstory of the world’s greatest fictional spy, 007. From the trailer the film promises to be cinematically epic, action packed, and character driven and will no doubt keep both cinephiles and Bond fans happy.
