James Bond: Ranking Every Blofeld From Worst To Best
4. Christoph Waltz (Spectre, 2015; No Time To Die, 2021)
Cuckoo.
When the majestically-reputed Christoph Waltz was cast in 2015's Spectre, Bond fans everywhere rejoiced.
The film's title reveal announced that SPECTRE - the franchise's infamous organisation of villains - was about to make a stirring comeback, decades after its last appearance. With SPECTRE, of course, comes Ernst Stavro Blofeld. And who better to play Blofeld than Quentin Tarantino's world-class discovery who'd brought to life the unforgettable Hans Landa and King Schultz in two titanic Oscar-winning performances?
Though he was said to be playing "Franz Oberhauser", we all knew better. There was just no way they would bring in an actor of Waltz's calibre to play anyone else but the iconic SPECTRE mastermind, right? Not only was Waltz certain to play Blofeld, he was all but guaranteed to knock it out of the park. So we all thought.
It was those unrealistically high expectations coupled with such feverish anticipation, perhaps, that led to the general sense of disappointment associated with both Waltz's portrayal and the film itself. The "twist" that Waltz's Oberhauser, Bond's thought-dead adoptive brother from childhood, was the SPECTRE chief all along was ill-advised, to say the least.
Linking all of Daniel Craig's previous 007 adventures to Blofeld's string-pulling machinations stretched credulity past its breaking point, while his "cuckoo" catchphrase came off as more annoying than anything else.
No doubt that Waltz did what he could with the role, but contrary to Donald Pleasence's sheer sinisterness and Telly Savalas's physical threat, his Blofeld ends up rather a pathetic figure - founding an international syndicate of criminals solely to get his own back on James Bond for stealing his father's love.