Who will play his opponent is as hotly anticipated as who will play James Bond.
Recent Oscar winner Rami Malek has been cast in the 25th James Bond film, with his role yet to be revealed.
During an announcement on Thursday, the Bohemian Rhapsody star hinted he will play the film’s villain, telling fans: “I will be making sure Mr Bond does not have an easy ride in this, his 25th outing.”
As speculation continues, here are some of the franchise’s most famous enemies.
Dr Julius No
The first Bond film Dr No (1962) saw Joseph Wiseman as the franchise’s first villain, scientist Julius No. The film also introduced the criminal group Spectre, a thread which runs through subsequent films.
Dr No specialised in radiation, which cost him his hands. He meets his end falling into a reactor pool after the first Bond (Sean Connery) learns of his plans to stop a space launch.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Often classed as the archenemy of Bond, the criminal mastermind is head of Spectre and appears in eight films from the franchise. His first appearance was in 1963 film From Russia With Love, played by Anthony Dawson.
Throughout the films, Blofeld is known for stroking his white cat with his face not shown – now recognised as the signs of a supervillain.
In Spectre, Bond was pitted against Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) as he tries to thwart his plan to create a global surveillance network. 007 shoots down Blofeld’s helicopter and it crashes on to Westminster Bridge, leaving him to crawl from the wreckage before being arrested by M.
Jaws
Played by Richard Kiel, Jaws appears in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker in 1979.
The professional assassin, complete with stainless steel teeth, acts as a henchman to the film’s main villains Karl Stromberg and Hugo Drax.
After escaping from Drax’s disintegrating space station in the 1979 film, Jaws speaks his only line in the entire franchise. He pops open a bottle of champagne with his girlfriend Dolly and says: “Well, here’s to us.”
Alec Trevelyan
The 1995 film GoldenEye saw Pierce Brosnan begin his tenure as 007. Alec Trevelyan, also known as Janus, was a former intelligence operative known as 006.
A raid on a Soviet chemical weapons facility by the two colleagues goes wrong and 006 is shot and captured. Portrayed by Sean Bean, Trevelyan faked his own death and founded a crime syndicate based in Russia.
The film sees the two go head to head, but ultimately sees Trevelyan plummet to his death.
Le Chiffre
Casino Royale (2006) introduces Le Chiffre, played by Mads Mikkelsen, a banker who finances the world’s terrorist organisations and Bond’s main protagonist.
As the first villain to go up against Daniel Craig’s Bond, the pair are seen in a high-stakes game during the film’s infamous poker scene after MI6 enters 007 into the tournament.
Le Chiffre kidnaps Bond and tortures him while tied to a chair but they are interrupted by the mysterious Mr White, who shoots the villain in the head and kills him.
Dominic Greene
The billionaire environmentalist entrepreneur turned criminal organisation operative was the main antagonist in 2008 film Quantum Of Solace.
Played by Mathieu Amalric, he had been tasked with securing an area of Bolivia rich in natural resources by Quantum. The villain is left to drink motor oil in the desert after his plan was thwarted by Daniel Craig’s Bond.
M later tells Bond that Greene had been shot dead. He gets a name check in the 2015 edition, after it was revealed Quantum had been a division of Spectre.