Shaken, not stirred. Say those three words and most people know exactly who you’re talking about. It’s how British Secret Service agent James Bond takes his martini cocktail but what’s a secret agent without a super nemesis? From the steel beast jaws to the man with the golden touch, here are the three Bond villains I would like to drink a martini with.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Movie: You Only Live Twice (1967) and many more.
The gold standard to which all cinematic arch-villains have been measured since! James Bond creator Ian Fleming details cat-obsessed Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s background in the novel Thunderball. The Meowtini, shaken not purred, pays homages to Blofeld’s Cat, the first White Persian to appear in a James Bond 007 film. Ever since, the use of a white cat to characterize villains has become iconic.
Jaws
Movie: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979)
Jaws is both (technically) a henchman and the least obvious Martini drinking partner: Steel teeth and super strength make short work of cocktail glasses. But Jaws’ disinterest in speaking guarantees he’s a great listener. Also, if you have a few too many, he’ll definitely be able to carry you to a cab.
Dr. No
Dr. No (1962)
Not the most outwardly charming mad scientist — poisonous spiders and nuclear ambitions come to mind — Dr. No winds up on our list for building his dream lair on a beautiful Caribbean island. We assume that if his architects could handle a nuclear reactor, they also built a magnificent swim-up pool bar with a sunset view.
Dr Kananga
Live and Let Die, 1973
How can we not share a martini with the first black Bond villain Dr Kananga? Actor Yaphet Kotto an played the roll of an evil Caribbean diplomat whose alter ego was a New York drug lord – in Live and Let Die, starring Roger Moore. Sadly, Yaphet Kotto passed away in March 2021 in the Philippines. His wife Sinahon Thessa said on Facebook. “You played a villain in some of your movies but for me you’re a real hero and to a lot of people also.” We raise a glass of martini in the loving memory of Dr. Kananga.
Elektra King
The World Is Not Enough, 1999
Women aren’t generally the Big Bad in a Bond film. With rare exceptions, they’re (at best) a henchwoman who gets to sleep with and then torture Bond. At worst? They are relegated to be the villain’s girlfriend who gets killed off unceremoniously in the first act. Elektra was very different, and Marceau’s controlled madness made her character work in a film that often didn’t. She forces Brosnan’s Bond into a conflict with the highest personal stakes, as King’s vendetta against M (Judi Dench) puts Bond in a spot where he must kill a woman he loved (or, at least, thought he did) in cold blood. King and 007’s final exchange — “You’d miss me”/”I never miss” — is one of the most haunting and tragic moments from Brosnan’s tenure.
