The title of the latest James Bond film (the twenty fourth since the film series began fifty two years ago) has been revealed. And it is called...
DAH-DUM (or however else you represent the opening sting of the Bond theme).
For those not in the know of James Bond history, Spectre is not only an oddly supernatural sounding title for a spy thriller it is also the name of Bond's greatest adversary. SPECTRE is a vast criminal organisation which Sean Connery's Bond (and briefly George Lazenby's version) tried to bring down throughout his tenure, It stands for SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion (with an acronym that forced they had to be evil). The organisation has been absent from the film series since Roger Moore took over as Bond in the 1970s but fans have predicted the return of SPECTRE in some form ever since Daniel Craig's rebooted iteration of the character discovered a new criminal organisation in town; Quantum, who were behind the exploits of his first two films. With the reveal of this film's title, it seems they might not be two distinct entities. Perhaps Quantum was a cover name for SPECTRE all along...
The other big news today is the reveal of the cast. Of particular interest is Andrew Scott, known to Sherlock fans as everyone's favourite good old-fashioned villain Moriarty. It's thought that he will play another villain here, a mole inside MI5, but his casting might just be a clever move by the filmmakers to play off his status as a 'villain actor' to derail suspicion from the real mole. Who knows?
Also in the cast is Christoph Waltz (who can be soon seen in Tim Burton's new film, Big Eyes). It is thought that he will be playing the traditional head of SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the original bald man with a white cat on his lap who became the clichéd image of a supervillain. Whether this is true or not the film does look set to follow Skyfall in taking classic Bond stylings and giving them a 21st century twist.
Truth be told, the title strikes me as a bit odd - it's a bit like the next Batman film being called Joker or calling the next Sherlock episode, in which Andrew Scott will also appear, 'Moriarty.' Still, whatever the thoughts about the title let's hope the film can recreate the quality of previous Daniel Craig Bonds, Casino Royale and Skyfall (we don't mention Quantum of Solace), two films whose spectre will surely be hanging over this one.
If you like James Bond and want to stay on this site (don't be shy - grab a chair, feed a fish) then you can read my review of Skyfall here.
Spectre will premiere in cinemas in November 2015
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