The Return of Blofeld?

The half-century long legal dispute between MGM and the estate of Kevin McClory has finally come to an end, with MGM being granted the rights to Ernst Stavro Blofeld, S.P.E.C.T.R.E., and all the other plot and character elements from Thunderball. Read more about this case here, or watch my Never Say Never Video where I talk about it here. Either way, it's over, and the winner is... nobody? I dunno.

Most news outlets and bloggers are saying this finally allows MGM to use Blofeld in their current Bond films, and while that's true, I doubt it's going to happen. I'm no legal expert (and my expertise on the Bond series is totally self-proclaimed), but I would imagine that MGM finally settled this matter not because they intend to ever use Blofeld or S.P.E.C.T.R.E. again, but because they want to ensure nobody else ever will. After all, Kevin McClory did manage to produce his own Bond film in 1983, and the possibility has lingered since then that his estate might someday try again. Whoever is in charge of McClory's estate must be very smart and realized that was a lost cause, so they probably got a lot of money from MGM. Good for them.

The Daniel Craig series is so drastically different in tone from the Connery films that spawned characters like Blofeld, so it's hard to imagine they'll find a way to work him in. However, lives have been lost counting out a man like Ernst Stavro Blofeld and believing him to be dead, so I will remain cautiously on the sidelines. After all, never say never again and all that.

But if MGM does bring back Blofeld, I have the perfect actor to cast in the role: Julian Glover.