Christoph Waltz Won't Return For Bond 25

Contains spoilers for Spectre

Although Daniel Craig will definitely return as 007 in the upcoming Bond 25, Christoph Waltz won't be back as the villain. However, it's worth noting that Waltz's character isn't just any old Bond villain, which makes the development a little more interesting.

In 2015's Spectre, we learn that Bond's classic antagonist, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, played by Waltz, is actually Franz Oberhauser, the foster brother of Bond. After Bond was orphaned, Oberhauser's father became his temporary guardian. But Oberhauser believed Bond had supplanted him, so he killed his father and staged his own death, adopting the Blofeld name. 

However, Waltz recently told Talky Movie that he won't be in Bond 25. "No, I'm really sad, but that's the tradition that there is a new [villain]."

While that's mostly true, it hasn't always applied to Blofeld. The character first appeared in 1963's From Russia With Love, but he returned in several Bond movies in the '60s, including three in a row. In each movie, Blofeld was played by a different actor, which means that although Waltz won't be back, it doesn't necessarily mean that the character has to be absent. Still, you kind of get the feeling that Blofeld won't be involved in Bond 25. Producers have said they want to take the story in a new direction, and honestly, it would be tough for any other actor to follow Waltz.

Bond 25 opens is slated to arrive in theaters in November 2019.