Have you noticed that it has been a long time since James Bond had a recurring nemesis? The most famous villain in the 007 franchise has always been Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the Nehru-jacketed bad guy played by multiple actors across several films. Back when Bond battled Blofeld and the evil organization known as SPECTRE, the movies took on a superhero quality as there was a constant face to go with the threats.
Well, for a long time Bond has faced different baddies in every film. Part of this was due to a 50 year lawsuit between MGM and Danjaq LLC due to legal custody of characters and plot elements in Ian Fleming‘s THUNDERBALL.
The dispute dates back to 1959 when McClory met with Ian Fleming, the author who created the famous 007 in a series of spy novels. McClory took credit for proposing to Fleming the idea of a Bond film set in the Bahamas. A writer was hired to create Thunderball, which later also became a Fleming novel.
Blofeld was one of those characters involved in the lawsuit which has now been settled. In return for undisclosed payments to the estate of writer Kevin McClory, MGM and Danjaq LLC now have the contested rights to characters and plot elements. This means Blofeld is back on the table.
In the Daniel Craig era films, QUANTUM has been the new group alluded to in both CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE. SKYFALL veered away from that subplot, but maybe the next Sam Mendes films can tackle Bond and MI6 going up against the supergroup headed by a man with a cat in his lap.
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