The Return of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

Written by John Edward Betancourt

We all have our guilty pleasures and while this may not be the day to go into all of mine, I will certainly share with all of you one of them...James Bond movies. I love these flicks ever since my father introduced them to me when I was younger. Granted, at the time I had no idea what the heck they were about, other than the fact it revolved around a cool as a cucumber guy named James Bond who kicked a lot of ass, always saved the day, and always got the girl. 

Years later, I made it a point to revisit the films and man, they became so much more.  Sure a lot of them have recycled elements, sometimes they are over the top but I simply cannot get enough of them and ever since Goldeneye I've made it a point to watch every single new release in theaters and I've definitely enjoyed the reboot the series has enjoyed with Daniel Craig playing the iconic role. 

But the new movie coming out next year, well...the wait for that has now become so much worse. Because while the franchise has put forth many a villain in its time, the greatest Bond stories to me, are the ones where he faced off against the evil organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and always incredible super villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.  It was always amazing watching Bond face off against either Blofeld's goons or Blofeld himself, in fact On Her Majesty's Secret Service was perhaps the finest Bond/Blofeld film of them all.  But sadly the character appeared to be killed off in For Your Eyes Only due to legal battles with a former Bond screenwriter.

But the rights have returned to Sony Pictures, and as you can see from the poster and damaged logo of this crazy organization, it would appear Bond's greatest foes will return for the 24th film and I couldn't be happier. After all Daniel Craig has done an outstanding job with the role, I loved what the franchise did with Skyfall and I love the idea of seeing a new S.P.E.C.T.R.E. for the 21st Century finally come to life.  Of course, it brings many questions to light for me, first and foremost whether or not this is the organization that was truly behind Q.U.A.N.T.U.M. from Quantum of Solace or if that will be glossed over for a bigger world domination plot and of course I'm dying to know if we will see Blofeld right away or not.  

So far the cast includes Christoph Waltz, who is widely believed to be the new Blofeld, but his character is known as Oberhauser in the film. This could of course be a John Harrison/Star Trek Into Darkness style ruse and I would be okay with that, since Waltz is super talented and would make an amazing Blofeld, but either way, the return of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. signals big things for the Bond franchise, grander stories, awesome villains and as always, a good time. I'm dying to know just what evil plans they will hatch to take over the world, and I do hope that the new Blofeld is more terrifying and ruthless than he has ever been in the past.  I really get the feeling we are in for a treat here and November 2015 simply cannot come soon enough.

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