Bardem Confirms He Is BOND 23 Villain

[Blowfeld]

Although EON Productions don’t seem to be in the mood to confirm or deny anything, Javier Bardem has informed ABC’s Nightline that he will indeed be squaring off against 007 as the villain in Bond 23.

In a response to an interviewer asking him “about the next villain you are going to play, in James Bond?”, the actor responded;

“I am very excited, my parents took me to watch the movies, and I saw all of them, and to play that is going to be fun. They chose me to play this man, but I cannot give you many details.”

Bardem was first linked with the film as long ago as January when it was announced that director Sam Mendes had offered him a starring role widely expected to be the main villain. By February, Bardem had confirmed he was in talks;

“I’d be playing Bond’s nemesis, yes… but it’s not that obvious. Everything is more nuanced. It’s very intriguing… They’re changing the whole thing, the whole dynamic.”

A spanner in the works then came when Universal and Ron Howard had lured the Oscar winning Spanish actor to lead their ambitious adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower that should have been filming the first of several movies and t.v. productions RIGHT NOW and would have made a Bond villain role impossible. But with that project dying out months ago, Bardem is now free to torment James Bond in his next outing.

Bond 23 (which might be titled “Skyfall”) already has the most talented director the series has ever known in Mendes (Road to Perdition, American Beauty) helming and now the greatest actor the franchise has ever known will be making his life hell. Sure the 007 series has already showcased legendary thesps Christopher Walken, Christopher Lee, Robert Shaw and Donald Pleasance among others over the past five decades and I’m not for a minute saying there’s a chance here for a performance more iconic than Sean Connery in Dr. No but it’s Javier Bardem!– that’s taking things to a new level, talent wise.

Nobody quite plays a villain like Bardem. Look at his Oscar winning turn as ultimate psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men, perhaps the greatest villainy role of the new century. Or his brief but electric cameo in Collateral. Two very different villains… Bardem can play charming, witty baddie or speechless, intense psycho or all of them mixed together into one evil plot.

So then the question now is… are EON be setting up Bardem to play the powerful head of Quantum, a role that seemingly cried out for a huge star?

Or is that role the one Ralph Fiennes has had all year and which he once said was;

‘darkly complex… one of extreme complexity and only an actor of great ability and dexterity can take it on” and that Bond 23 is… “the first of a new generation of Bond films, and the ideas Mendes has push the film into darker territory where the characters are modern, mature and challenging,”.

We recently heard that the Bond 23 press conference won’t be taking place until next month so a 100% official confirmation from the Bond producers is still some weeks away. But whatever the film ends up being called, it’s hard to deny that this isn’t the most talented bunch of people to ever work on a James Bond film

[Omega]

he first of a new generation of Bond films, and the ideas Mendes has push the film into darker territory where the characters are modern, mature and challenging

“I’d be playing Bond’s nemesis, yes… but it’s not that obvious. Everything is more nuanced. It’s very intriguing… They’re changing the whole thing, the whole dynamic.”

This crap is going to be the main problem!

They can get good cast but still make a suck film.

[shaken not stirred]

he first of a new generation of Bond films, and the ideas Mendes has push the film into darker territory where the characters are modern, mature and challenging

“I’d be playing Bond’s nemesis, yes… but it’s not that obvious. Everything is more nuanced. It’s very intriguing… They’re changing the whole thing, the whole dynamic.”

This crap is going to be the main problem!

They can get good cast but still make a suck film.

Oh for beepsake, this is bond goddammit what's mature about trying to stop an evil man who wants world domination, with killer piranas, agents faking their deaths, guys with killer bowler hats, a guy who can kill people with his jaw....christ just go back to making james bond beeping films goddammit eon , I don't give a beep about bond's bloody layers or complex villains, leave that beep to batman where it belongs this franchise will crash and burn and I'm not being taken with it, you're a disgrace babs and if I was working in this industry I'd say it to your face, Cubbys rolling in his grave and your films amount to nothing, just open a sodding museum and put your arthouse freak bond in it because you clearly wouldn't know a bond film if it came and bit you in the ass....arrgh .

Sorry guys I've had it with this franchise, too many things I liked are getting screwed over, enough's enough, RIP James Bond when you were rebooted you're no longer an agent of her majestys secret service..now you're just an agent of misery, death and self loathing and for this franchise in the words of cregg about the martini you should've given a d**n because I sure as hell don't now , I watch bond for escapism not misery that's what crap like eastenders and reality tv's for and I hate it, ironman 3 and the avengers can't come out soon enough.

[Alessandra]

he first of a new generation of Bond films, and the ideas Mendes has push the film into darker territory where the characters are modern, mature and challenging

“I’d be playing Bond’s nemesis, yes… but it’s not that obvious. Everything is more nuanced. It’s very intriguing… They’re changing the whole thing, the whole dynamic.”

This crap is going to be the main problem!

They can get good cast but still make a suck film.

Oh my God. What the hell is wrong with these people?

But hey at least it's freaking OCTOBER and we're finally hearing about official cast. Bardem is a very good actor. Problem is, like everything else in this movie, he's not the type of actor who should be doing Bond. This REALLY is shaping up to be "BOND 23:THE AMERICAN BEAUTY VERSION" and I am getting SERIOUSLY worried at this point. The quotes above only ADD to the absolute dislike I have for what they have said so far. I don't like it one bit. This is Bond, it's not American Beauty. It's supposed to be a good ACTION FLICK, not a freaking dark American Beauty-style movie. What the hell. We knew this was going to be the outcome the moment Mendes was announced. And now each and every single bit coming out about it (not much so far, granted) points in that exact direction. What-the-hell!

[MichaelZWilliamson]

Layers and nuance? Is this one of those Paris art films where people sit in a cafe and talk at each other?

Bond fights bad guys and prongs women. Women want him, men want to be him. That's as complex as it gets.

[shaken not stirred]

Bond fights bad guys and prongs women. Women want him, men want to be him. That's as complex as it gets.

In the real world yes, in eons world.. this is eons world

[katied]

Bardem as a bad guy..sorry, when I think of his as I bad guy I think of No Country For Old Men.. will Bardem's character is Bond 23 be calling people "Friendo?"

[MichaelZWilliamson]

Bond fights bad guys and prongs women. Women want him, men want to be him. That's as complex as it gets.

In the real world yes, in eons world.. this is eons world

That image disturbs me. Where is it from?

[Alessandra]

Bond fights bad guys and prongs women. Women want him, men want to be him. That's as complex as it gets.

In the real world yes, in eons world.. this is eons world

That image disturbs me. Where is it from?

I find it quite disturbing, too, but amazingly spot-on

I completely agree with you. Bond is NOT SUPPOSED to be artsy and it MUST NOT BE, that's the thing. It has to be a good, VERY STYLISH action piece with great gadgets, beautiful women and an outstanding leading man. NONE of these ingredients are part of the Craig era (other than a couple of really beautiful women: Caterina Murino and Olga Kurylenko).

[shaken not stirred]

Bond fights bad guys and prongs women. Women want him, men want to be him. That's as complex as it gets.

In the real world yes, in eons world.. this is eons world

That image disturbs me. Where is it from?

The avengers, one of the last films Sir Sean Connery ever made, he was gonna retire there and then but made a bet if his next one was really bad he'd go into forced retirement (league of extraordinary gentlemen).

Ale: Yeah I don't understand why it's so hard for someone to make a bond film nowdays, bond was never about psychological crap and the human mind, like tony stark bond is a guy who doesn't know if everyday is his last and both live life to the full because that's the life of 007, as for the women in creggs films sorry I don't think they're that great, give Me the actress who played the russian bond girl in goldeneye anyday and the evil villain who pretended to be good in the world is not enough and Fanke Jenssen ( I really liked her in goldeneye then x-men ).

I'm not saying the women in creggs films aren't attractive but unlike real bond girls they don't seem to have that effect.

[shaken not stirred]

This guy for bond 24 villain if you're from the UK you'll know who this is