SPECTRE: Christoph Waltz calls villain claims "absolutely untrue"

NB: the following contains potential spoilers for the identity of SPECTRE's villain.

Anticipation's been gradually rising for James Bond's next outing, SPECTRE- stoked in no small part by the first teaser trailer released at the end of March, which played up the atmosphere and suspense rather than high-wire stunts.

Part of the excitement surrounding the latest Bond is, of course, derived from the return of the criminal organisation of its title. And then there's Christoph Waltz, who's billed everywhere as a villain by the name as Franz Oberhauser. But there's been no shortage of speculation surrounding Waltz's role, with one UK newspaper's sources stating that his true identity is none other than Bond's arch-enemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Knowing what we do about Waltz's abilities as an actor, he could certainly be a worthy inheritor of a role once played by the likes of Donald Pleasence and Max Von Sydow. So is there any truth to the claims?

Not according to Christoph Waltz himself, no.

"That is absolutely untrue," Waltz told GQmagazine. "The name of my character is Franz Oberhauser."

The inevitable question: is Waltz being absolutely truthful, or is he, to coin an awkward phrase, "doing a John Harrison"? We won't really know until we get into a theatre with SPECTRElater this year, which is no bad thing.

Elsewhere in the interview, Waltz speaks in glowing terms about SPECTREand the creative direction of the Daniel Craig Bond films:

"The thing about Spectreis that it is not the work of hack writers. It does not have a hack director. The actors are not hams. The action sequences in Mexico are extravagant to say the least. The scenes in Austria are traditional Bond action in the snow. These films with Daniel Craig have shifted the tone. They don't depend on a set formula that forces actors simply to go through the motions."

SPECTREis out in UK cinemas on the 23rd October and the US in November.

The Hollywood Reporter