Is Rami Malek's Bond villain really who he says he is?
Fans are already theorising that in the new Bond film No Time to Die, Rami Malek's villain, known to us only as Safin, is actually Dr. Julius No, paying homage to the first film and villain in the Bond franchise from 1962.
For Bond's very first villain to also be his last would certainly be an appropriate nod to Daniel Craig's swansong, and a neat way to end an era.
Dr. No saw 007, played by Sean Connery, travel to Jamaica to search for a disappeared colleague, only to find himself up against mad scientist and Spectre member Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman), who wants Bond dead. At the end of the film, Bond knocks No into a nuclear reactor pool in No's control centre and, seemingly, kills him.
But has director Cary Fukunaga managed to find a plot loophole? Here's how the theory holds up:
The fight scenes are suspiciously similar
Reddit user RaggedyRandall pointed out the similarities between the set in the trailer and the final fight in Doctor No:
"Only refrained from saying for potential spoilers if I really am on the money, but it looks like a pretty close recreation of the set from the end of Dr No, with the control panels and the elevated platform that lowers into the heavy water. It’s where the final fight between bond and Dr No happens."
Even the dialogue seems connected. "History isn’t kind to men who play God," Bond says to Malek's villain in the trailer, while Connery had previously said to No: "World domination – same old dream. Our asylums are full of people who think they’re Napoleon. Or God."
Safin's backstory is conveniently blank
No Time to Die, which is Craig's fifth outing as Bond and also features Lashana Lynch as the franchise's first black, female 00 agent, provides very little information about Safin, causing further speculation that there's a trick up the saga's sleeve. After all, when Waltz returned as Blofield in Spectre, the credits teased him as the anonymous Franz Oberhauser.
Fukunaga has merely described him as a "hyper intelligent and a worthy adversary". Reddit user Jaytrident wrote: "Also Dr. No is kinda the one classic villain you could really pull this with because he really isn't prominent even in his own film. He has the dinner scene with Bond and then he's in his hazard suit where you can barely see him and he gets killed."
What's more, Blofield's comeback wasn't in the source material, so any argument that No doesn't return in Ian Fleming's books quickly loses weight.
We're back in Jamaica
Dr. No is based in Jamaica, which is where Bond was taking his retirement following giving up his license to kill at the end of Spectre, and where we know much of No Time to Die was filmed.
Says Reddit user Reallifelucas:
"In the shot where the plane (probably the same plane from the Jamaica footage that got released a while ago) flies away from the explosion, you can make out that the object being exploded looks like an oil rig.
Looks like we're going to Crab Key, fellas.
If Safin is a repackaged Dr. No, while it would be a little lazy, it would be sort of poetic that the rebooted era of Bond ends where the classic series begins."
Where are Safin's hands?
Shots of Safin's hands are notably absent from the trailer, which would make sense, considering Dr. No's hands – cut off by Chinese crime syndicate Tongs when No stole gold from them – are made out of metal, and a dead giveaway.
The clue's in the name
Which would also make the film's title the naffest of the entire franchise.
No Time to Die is released in cinemas April 2
How will Rami Malek fare as a bond villain? What are your theories as to his real identity? Tell us in the comments section below.