James Bond 25: Do filming photos hint at THIS villain rumour? Who will Daniel Craig face?

Pictures and video footage reported by Express.co.uk earlier today show a mysterious villain in a mask chasing after a young girl. It appears as though he follows the frightened child out of a house and across the ice, with a gun in hand. The actors’ identities are unclear, but the use of the plain mask is interesting – and could provide some clues as to the content of the film.

It had previously been reported that Rami Malek was all set to sign up as the villain in the 25th James Bond movie.

It’s not Malek in these photos – but the mask could indicate that the man at work is some kind of double.

Alternatively, it could allude to a previous rumour that the villain will be someone from a past Bond novel.

In Raymond Benson’s book Never Dream of Dying – previously speculated to be the blueprint to Bond 25 – the villain’s identity is at first wrapped in mystery as he goes under a different alias.

Olivier Cesari, who is blind and tries to brutally blind others using lasers, is met under the alter ego of Pierre Rodiac, whom René Mathis encounters at a casino.

Last year, when Shatterhand was first thought to be the title of the new film, it was speculated that Cesari would be the villain of it.

Author Benson denied it at the time, but since then, there have been changes of both director (Danny Boyle to Cary Joji Fukunaga) and writer (Scott Z Burns has rewritten the script).

So although it seems unlikely that Bond 25 would be a direct adaptation of Benson’s book, could this new villain be some kind of riff on Cesari? In which case, could the mask allude to his undercover identity as Pierre Rodiac, or mask wounds that caused his blindness?

Of course it’s all pure speculation at this point, and nothing has yet been confirmed by bosses.

The mask could be a much simpler device, or it could simply be used to mask a stunt double’s face.

In any case, details will presumably be unveiled in due course.

For now, this is believed to be Craig’s final outing as 007, with speculation raging over who will replace him.

James Bond 25 is out on April 8, 2020.