James Bond has historically reveled in over-the-top villains with implausibly dastardly schemes, but a 27-year-old franchise entry proves that the series isn't always totally ridiculous. World-ending plots have been a James Bond staple for decades. Part of the problem with the franchise has arguably been the ongoing arms race between installments to raise the stakes after the titular agent has saved the world for the umpteenth time. However, one movie proves that a story that seems slightly ludicrous on the surface can have more than a grain of truth to it.

Released in 1997, Bond's legendary remote-control BMW and Brosnan's chemistry with Michelle Yeoh. Beyond this, however, Tomorrow Never Dies secretly showcases perhaps the franchise's most realistic and prescient villain – Elliot Carver.

Tomorrow Never Dies' Elliot Carver Is Bond's Most Realistic Villain

Part Of His Plan Is Scarily True To Real Life

Played by Jonathan Pryce, Elliot Carver is a megalomaniacal presence at the heart of Tomorrow Never Dies. A media mogul whose power comes from his ability to manipulate events and control the flow of information, Carver is just as dangerous as any of the more physically imposing threats that Bond has faced in his six-decade cinematic career. But what sets Carver apart is how thematically relevant his villainy has remained, even as other aspects of the Bond series have aged poorly.

Whereas many franchise villains – particularly in the Brosnan era – emphasize wanton destruction with their world-ending schemes, Carver's approach is subtly different. While he plans to instigate global conflict using a stealth ship (a typically ludicrous move), his motivations have horrifying resonance today. His mission is simply to expand his media empire, securing broadcasting rights in China for a century and turning his company into the global center for news and information.

Carver has been transformed from a slightly clownish antagonist in a middling Bond movie to a surprisingly prescient prediction of the kind of challenges the media environment faces today.

In 1997, public suspicion of the media and the rise of globalization made Carver an appropriate villain for Bond to face. In 2024, however, when misinformation, division between demographics, and the phenomenon of "fake news" are arguably more pertinent than ever, Carver has been transformed from a slightly clownish antagonist in a middling Bond movie to a surprisingly prescient prediction of the kind of challenges the media environment faces today. He has, in fact, become the most realistic villain in the series, offering a threat that now seems more believable than ever.

How Carver Is Different From Other James Bond Villains

His Mission Is Extremely Prescient

In some ways, Carver follows the James Bond villain blueprint. After all, his scheme still involves starting a war between two superpowers, using improbable gadgets like a stealth ship, and utilizing a cabal of unsavory henchmen, such as Dr. Kaufman, Gupta, and Stamper. However, what makes him so retrospectively frightening is how the specifics of his plan have parallels to societal issues in the present day.

At his core, Carver is a media man – of the sort that many viewers (both in 1997 and 2024) would recognize. In the decades following Tomorrow Never Dies' release, controversies around certain family-owned media empires, the Leveson Inquiry in the UK, the takeover of publications like The Washington Post, and ownership of platforms like Twitter have all led to individuals behind news corporations coming under the spotlight like never before. While the best Bond movies always ground their narratives in something somewhat believable, hindsight makes it clear how prescient the story of a rogue media magnate was in 1997.

Carver Has Become A Blueprint For Other Villains

His Story Can Be Seen Elsewhere

For further proof of how ahead-of-his-time Carver was as a James Bond villain, one need only look at other fictional antagonists who have followed his lead. Perhaps the most notable is Logan Roy. Played by Brian Cox, the ferocious patriarch of the Roy clan is a much more grounded extension of Carver's covetous personality. He, too, controls and influences global events behind the scenes, demanding the ear of presidents and major political players from across the globe. Although he doesn't actively try to blow anyone up, the fact that Logan Roy seems so resonant today speaks to how realistic Carver actually was.

Because of the nature of the series, James Bond villains will always have a propensity for cartoonish excess. Elliot Carver is no different. However, because his Tomorrow Never Dies scheme is so explicitly geared towards media and information manipulation, and given the scary reality of these concerns in the present day, he has – perhaps surprisingly – cemented his place as one of the most believable figures in the franchise.