James Bond: 5 Reasons Blofeld Could (And Should) Become A Woman

By James Lovatt /

Ernst Stavro Blofeld, James Bond's infamous nemesis, could be set for a return to the silver screen. The estate of Kevin McClory - Blofeld's co-creator - have recently agreed to sell the rights of the character to Danjaq and MGM, concluding a legal dispute, which has spanned over 50 years. As such, the end of one long-running conflict stands to reignite another, with nothing in the way of seeing Bond once again go face-to-face with the bald-headed, cat-stroking evil mastermind. However, Blofeld has been stagnating on the sidelines for three decades, with his last appearance coming in the pre-credits sequence of For Your Eyes Only back in 1981. Even then his identity had to remain relatively obscure, as not to aggravate the legal issues previously mentioned. Of course, a lot can happen in thirty years, and perhaps a new Blofeld won't be a fan of cats, nor of blandly-coloured Mao suits. In fact, he might even be a woman, and here are five reasons why, and why that would be a good idea.

5. There Aren't Enough Proper Female Bond Villains

A film cannot be a Bond film without a lady involved €“ that's the natural order. Over the years we've had a wide variety of bombshells, most of which have been allies €“ allies who've had sex with 007. Some have been enemies, then allies, and had sex with 007, too. But only four have been enemies through-and-through, and even all but one of those at least attempted to have sex with Bond. The lady who didn't is Blofeld's very own Number 3, Rosa Klebb, in From Russia With Love, the brilliantly menacing red-haired, middle-aged hag with the iconic poisonous blade protruding from her shoe. Miranda Frost (Die Another Day), Elektra King (The World is Not Enough) and Xenia Onatopp (GoldenEye) are the other three outright female villains, but all are seriously unimaginative femmes fatales who are not worth comparison to the truly terrifying Klebb. Turning Blofeld's character into an attractive woman would really be fifty shades of wrong, but as a co-member of SPECTRE, Number 3 has already shown how effective an asexual female villain can be, and it's definitely time for one of those.