12 Things You Learn Rewatching Spectre
10. Denbigh Should've Been A Red Herring
From the moment that Joint Intelligence Service head Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott) is introduced to audiences, it's ludicrously obvious he's going to turn out to be a not-so-secret villain; it's practically neon-signposted.
For starters, Bond calls him a c**t - something Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) confirms later in the film - which is all the proof you need, really.
Considering how Denbigh's villainy in Spectre's third act is groan-inducingly predictable, it would've been far more compelling if Denbigh was actually a red herring. He could still be a bit of an a**hole, sure, but did he really need to be in league with Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) all along?
Perhaps the filmmakers were fearful of repeating the Mallory red herring twist in the previous film, but considering that the new M ended up being a genuinely honourable, likeable character, there was surely room for Denbigh to remain detestable without becoming a flat-out megalomaniacal turncoat.
Blofeld was really enough villainy for one movie, but that's a whole other issue altogether (and more on that later).