After nine months of rumors, Javier Bardem has finally confirmed that he will assume the enviable role of villain in the next James Bond movie, Bond 23. So just which Bond baddie should the Academy Award winner channel when plotting against Daniel Craig's "007?" Movieline suggests a half dozen iconic Bond evil doers below.
Dr. No
Bond Films: Dr. No (1962)
Portrayed By: Joseph Wiseman
What better Bond villain to begin with than the very first to be portrayed onscreen: Dr. Julius No. This titular antagonist appeared stiff and emotionless onscreen -- qualities that could be attributed to his troubled childhood (unwanted child of a German missionary), his rejection from American and Soviet intelligence agencies or the fact that this mad scientist lost both of his hands in radiation experiments. By the start of the film, his hands have been replaced by metal ones making this villain partially bionic and ultimately, not manually dexterous enough to escape pools of boiling coolant.
Red Grant
Bond Films: From Russia With Love (1963)
Portrayed By: Robert Shaw
Or maybe Bardem would like to forgo the "mad scientist" routine in favor of playing a "psychopathic killer" like Russian henchman Red Grant, who was dispatched to kill Bond as revenge for knocking off Dr. No. Fit enough to take a brass knuckled punch from his superior Rosa Klebb, this homicidal paranoiac is a slick silent killer who favors a garotte wire (hidden in his watch) over firepower. Grant proved to be one of Bond's most formidable opponents in their classic train fight scene.
Auric Goldfinger
Bond Films: Goldfinger (1964)
Portrayed By: Gert Fröbe
And then there's the more intriguing, animated type of villain such as Auric Goldfinger, the Bond baddie with the Midas touch. Remembered as the most sinister antagonist to challenge 007, this portly, megalomaniac gold smuggler provided so much more than the previous, one-dimensional villains including memorable quips ("No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die."), deliciously evil mannerisms and a fascination with historical Nazi gold bars. Played by the non-English speaking actor Gert Fröbe, all of Goldfinger's lines were dubbed in by Michael Collins.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Bond Films: From Russia With Love (1963), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Never Say Never Again (1983)
Portrayed By: Anthony Dawson, Donald Pleasence (below), Telly Savalas, Charles Gray, John Hollis and Max von Sydow,
Perhaps recognized by younger generations as the inspiration for Mike Myers's Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films, this cat-carrying supervillain supervised other villains as the head of the maleficent SPECTRE corporation. Blofeld is more mysterious than the other Bond baddies -- in the first two films, only his lower body and his arm stroking his signature white feline are shown. Blofeld aims for world domination (and Bond's death, of course) but it's difficult to pin down the character's mannerisms considering he was played by six different actors in seven different Bond films.
Francisco Scaramanga
Bond Films: The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)
Portrayed By: Christopher Lee
And then there is the icy, high-priced assassin kind of villain like Francisco Scaramanga, played by Christopher Lee in The Man With the Golden Gun. Another titular villain (he charges $1 million per gold bullet-ed kill), the charming Scaramanga also has the exotic distinctions of being the only Bond villain who was born into a traveling circus and who has a third nipple. His coldhearted manner makes for tense interactions with our favorite spy.
Max Zorin
Bond Films: A View to a Kill (1985)
Portrayed By: Christopher Walken
Although A View to a Kill may not be on anyone's Favorite Bond Films list, its villain is worth noting for his pure badass-ery. Played by Christopher Walken, this Dresden-born "super child" (born out of a Nazi experiment which forced a few women to take massive amounts of steroids while pregnant), this psychopath dopes his thoroughbred horses, plans to trigger an earthquake to wipe out his competition, runs his business out of a blimp, gleefully machine guns a crowd of flood victims and tries to attack Bond with an axe on the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm not saying that Bardem should pull all the pages out of Max Zorin's playbook, but one or two might be cool.