No Time To Die is bringing Daniel Craig back as James Bond for the franchise’s 25th outing, and with it introducing a new Bond villain, played by Rami Malek. Set for release in April 2020, No Time To Die marks Craig’s final appearance as Bond. There are also a number of familiar faces, including Léa Seydoux’s Dr Madeline Swann, Jeffrey Wright’s Felix Leiter, Ralph Fiennes’ M, Ben Whishaw’s Q, and Naomie Harris’ Eve Moneypenny.

There is also plenty of fresh blood to get excited about, with director Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective) helming his first Bond film and Emmy-winning Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge helping write the script. There are a number of new cast members too, including Ana De Armas and Lashana Lynch, but the most intriguing right now is Rami Malek, who will play No Time To Die’s villain, Safin.

The Egyptian-American Malek has experienced a meteoric rise to fame over the past few years. His first major role was in the USA Network show Mr. Robot, which became a hit and landed him the 2016 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. In 2018, he portrayed Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Here’s everything we know about Malek’s Bond villain.

Malek’s Bond Villain Has Facial Scars & A Mask

Rami Malek’s Safin only has a few seconds of screen time in the No Time To Die trailer, but for most of it, he wears a white mask that covers a majority of his face – something of a cross between Michael Myers’ mask from Halloween and the opera mask from The Phantom of the Opera. When his full face is shown, notable scars are visible on his face and jaw. It’s a recurring theme for the Daniel Craig Bond villains, as Le Chiffre (Casino Royale), Raoul Silva (Skyfall) and Ernst Blofeld (Spectre) all had facial scars themselves. In one of the No Time To Die’s posters, we get a full view of Safin’s face. It’s not clear exactly what caused the scars, but one can expect it will be revealed in the film.

Safin Is NOT A Religious Idealogue

Malek revealed back in July that he had to think twice about accepting the role of a Bond villain. Fresh off his Oscar win and in high demand, Malek said he had to clear one thing up with Fukunaga before he accepted the role: he wanted to make sure that the Bond villain wasn’t a religious fundamentalist or an Arabic-speaking terrorist. He said his Egyptian heritage was “the fabric” of who he is, and he had no interest in playing a villain that had anything to do with that. 

“I said, ‘We cannot identify him with any act of terrorism reflecting an ideology or a religion. That’s not something I would entertain, so if that is why I am your choice, then you can count me out,’” he said at the time. But upon learning that Fukunaga had no interest in making the character a fundamentalist, he accepted, and said Safin is a “very different kind of terrorist.” It may not be clear what exactly his motivation is, but religion can be safely crossed off the list.

Malek’s Bond Villain Is Accused Of “Playing God”

As is the case with pretty much every James Bond villain, it’s clear from the No Time To Die trailer that Malek’s Safin has some grand scheme for either world destruction or world domination. In his lone trailer scene, he claims his “skills will survive long after” he is gone, suggesting he has some delusions of grandeur (or, perhaps, realistic views of grandeur). In response, Bond tells him, “History isn’t kind to men who play God.” So, like many a great Bond villain from the past, it can be expected that the scale of his plan is vast and deadly.

Malek’s Bond Villain Is “Hyper Intelligent” And “Nasty”

Malek has said very little about the character, but both Fukunaga and producer Barbara Broccoli offered brief insights into Safin’s character. Fukunaga did a trailer breakdown with Empire, and while he mostly remained mum on key details, he did offer that Safin is part of “a new generation of bad guys,” and that he is “hyper intelligent and a worthy adversary” to Bond. Broccoli also did an interview with Empire, and in relation to Safin she was also vague. But she offered a tad more, stating that with his character, they have “thrown the book at him on this one. He is really the supervillain. He’s the one that really gets under Bond’s skin. He’s a nasty piece of work.” So while it may have been to be expected with a Bond villain, it is confirmed that Safin will be very, very evil.

Is Malek’s Bond Villain Dr. No?

This is simply a theory, but it has made the rounds on the internet in recent days. A Reddit user theorized that Safin may actually be Dr. No, the villain from the first ever Bond film. The famous confrontation in that film, between Sean Connery’s Bond and Joseph Wiseman’s Dr. Julius No, takes place in a lair with control panels that lower an elevated platform into water. In the No Time To Die trailer, the set where Bond confronts Malek’s Safin looks oddly similar. Later in the trailer, a brief shot reveals a water facility surrounded by people in hazmat suits – again, very similar to a scene from Dr. No.

Maybe it’s just an homage. But in reviving Ernst Blofeld, a villain from several early Bond films who returned in Spectre (and will appear in this film, too), those in charge of the new franchise have shown they are willing to bring old characters back. That means it is possible Rami Malek’s villain Safin is actually a new take on Dr. No in No Time To Die, which puts another spin on the movue’s title too. Considering how tight-lipped everyone has been about details, we’ll likely have to wait until April to find out.

Next: James Bond’s “M” Retcon Could Cause Problems After No Time To Die

  • Bond 25 Release Date: 2021-10-08