As the world gears up for Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond, the creative team of No Time to Die has hinted that this movie's villain is going to be the biggest and baddest in franchise history. Rami Malek will portray the role of Safin, which director Cary Fukunaga has described as more of a horror villain than a spy movie villain. In other words, he’s a lot more frightening than Bond villains we’ve seen before.

Once we got into Christoph Waltz/Blofeld territory, you can’t go small again. We had to think bigger,” said Fukunaga to GQ. “It’s tricky because you don’t want to make a cliché super villain, but you have to make someone that’s threatening not only to Bond and the people he loves but to the world at large.”

Malik was aware of the giant shoes he was filling when he accepted the role. “It’s a 007 film, man. They’re a part of our cinematic history,” said Malek in the same GQ profile. “An opportunity to go toe-to-toe, head-to-head with Daniel and give them all I got? That’s something I’ll look back on as as big as it gets.”

For the past few months, fans have been spreading a wild rumor about Malek's role of Safin, speculating that he might reveal himself to be the infamous Dr. No. Malek has recently addressed the rumor, stating: “Let the rumors fly, because no matter what you expect from this movie, you will be shocked when you watch the film. I will not add any fuel to that fire.” It's a cryptic answer, but one that heightens the anticipation for the blockbuster.

No Time to Die was pushed back an entire year due to Covid-19. Currently, we can expect the film to hit theaters on April 2, 2021.

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