The new issue of Empire, on all newsagents' shelves come Thursday February 27, has Daniel Craig's Bond on the front cover in honour of the upcoming 007 movie, Spectre. But you know what he looks like by now, so marvel instead at a first look at Dave Bautista's henchpersonage Mr. Hinx and a glimpse at Lea Seydoux's mysterious Dr. Madeleine Swann.
Empire's in-depth feature on the 24th James Bond outing covers everything from new one-liners to chances of seeing chickens flying out of a barn, so just to whet your appetitite, here are a couple of quotes on these two new characters, one from Bautista, and one from Seydoux.
"When I came over to meet Sam [Mendes], I only asked two questions," says the erstwhile Galaxy Guardian. "I asked him if Mr. Hinx was a badass. He said, 'Yes, he's a badass.' I said, 'Well, is Mr. Hinx intelligent?' He said, 'Very.' That's what I like about Mr. Hinx. He's very well-dressed and very well-mannered. I'm not just here to fight people. He has a sense of humour. He definitely knows what a metaphor is."
In other words, he may have an old-school name, and he may boast a brick shithouse physique, but Mr. Hinx is far from just another lunk 007 has to thunk. He may even know which wine to pair with fish.
Also on the on the intellectual side of things, Dr. Madeleine Swann is brainier than your average Bond girl. "I don't consider myself a Bond girl," says Seydoux. "I think I'm not really the stereotyped Bond girl. I feel quite different. You can't be like, 'Oh, James.' You have to find something else. She's not a fighter, she's a doctor," she adds. "She fights in another way."
Spectre is set for a October 23, 2015 release in the UK and a November 6, 2015 release in the US. As well as Craig, Seydoux and Bautista, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Andrew Scott and Monica Belluci are in the cast, with the script written by John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. Interstellar's Hoyte van Hoytema is the director of photography, while Sam Mendes is directing.
{Spectre Front Covers}