James Bond 'No Time To Die' Theory: Could Safin Actually Be This Iconic Villain?

There isn’t a lot known about Rami Malek’s villain character Safin in the new “No Time To Die” movie, James Bond’s 25th film outing. But there is a theory floating around that this character could be one we’ve seen before -- another villain who premiered 57 years ago in one of Bond’s first adventures.

Screen Rant pointed out all the evidence in support of this claim, drawing up the conclusion that Malek’s character might, in fact, be Dr. No, one of the super spy’s most famous villains. It’s even in the name, they point out -- “No Time To Die” may be hiding this fact in plain sight.

The franchise has done it before, as recent as 2015's “Spectre,” Bond’s most recent film. Christoph Waltz played the villain Ernst Blofeld in that one. Blofeld made multiple appearances throughout Bond’s lifetime, in films like “From Russia With Love,” “For Your Eyes Only,” “Thunderball,” and “You Only Live Twice.”

The discussions first emerged on Reddit immediately after the Bond 25 trailer (above) was posted to r/JamesBond. The top comment reads: “So - Rami playing a new Dr No?” The fans immediately began breaking down the similarities between Malek’s Safin and the original Dr. No, played by Joseph Wiseman.

First of all, the trailer shows the meetup between hero and villain, wherein the villain gives his villain speech while the super spy is a prisoner and has to escape -- a common trope in Bond movies. However, this one had a strong resemblance (or homage) to the first time this ever happened to Bond on-screen with Dr. No. Safin had in his “lair” a control panel that lowers a platform into some water, something the two villains have in common.

The Reddit-users even remarked on how similar in appearance the two of them are, with a slick, clean-cut hairstyle and a turtle-neck.

Given that this is Daniel Craig’s final role as the iconic hero, many suggest it would be a sort of poetic justice to end the way the Sean Connery Bond legacy began: with Dr. No. While the clues stack up and are definitely compelling, there’s no way of knowing until the film premieres on April 10.