Just as no Bond film is complete without gorgeous women and dazzling gadgets, no film can be without a worthy villain to oppose Bond. The villain has to be someone rather special in a deliciously evil sort of way. After all, if your goal is world domination, you can’t be a wuss or a schnook. You do have to be a bit larger than life.

The Bond villains have all been psychopathic in their own unique and delightful ways. From the humorless Dr. No, played with sinister sophistication by Joseph Wiseman to the various incarnations of Blofeld, including suavely sophisticated Charles Gray and repellent Donald Pleasance; from Gert Frobe’s jovially evil Auric Goldfinger to Klaus Brandauer’s neurotically creepy Largo and Christopher Walken’s creepily neurotic Max Zorin, Bond villains have been very colorful indeed. Sometimes they have a touch of slimy charm, like Jonathan Pryce’s Elliot Carver, or Robert Davi’s Franz Sanchez. Sometimes they are cold and menacing like Sean Bean’s Alec Trevalyan or Robert Shaw’s Red Grant. But they are all supremely, narcissistically wacko. What fun!

Naturally, we believe that Bruce should be Bond, but we think he would make a terrific Bond bad bloke too. Although Bruce has done just as many good guy roles in his career as bad guys, his villain roles have been more visible-- most notably, Charles Rane, the psychopathic terrorist in Passenger 57, the evil henchman Damodar in Dungeons & Dragons, the archly arrogant reprised Damodar in 2005's Wrath of the Dragon God, and the vengeful archvillain, Jacob Kell in Highlander: Endgame.

Bruce’s villains are both intensely, fiercely evil and oddly charming at the same time. We almost root for Damodar, wishing that he would change sides. As Kell, Bruce is so delectably, maniacally over the top that he steals every scene he is in and leaves us wanting more. Even Charles Rane, for whom we can have no sympathy, is not without a trace of fascinating charm. We also guarantee that these villains aren’t your ordinary garden-variety bad guys-- they are way larger than life and totally unforgettable. Just as any good Bond villain should be.

Bruce’s villains come in many other flavors -- the sexy, sinister warlock in Warlock III, the strutting fascist thug in Absolute Beginners, the apparently sincere cop who turns out to be a werewolf (oops!) in Full Eclipse, and the creepy-scary circus owner/vampire in The Howling VI, to name only a few. When it comes to villains, "nobody does it better" and with more finesse than Bruce.

No matter what villainous characterizations the next Bond films call for, if you want someone who can play the role to the hilt with great relish and gusto, Bruce is your man. When it comes to villains, Bruce Payne rules.