Skyfall features Daniel Craig's best bond villain, Raoul Silva, but if the film had stuck to its original plan then Silva might have been ruined. Skyfall can be ed among Craig's Bond filmography for several reasons, but it will likely always be referred to as the Bond movie in which M dies. Of course, this could not be possible if it were not for Javier Bardem's character, Raoul Silva. His plan to kill M, and the fact that he successfully does it, adds another loved one lost for Bond and creates more trauma for him to deal with throughout the films. Not only is he successful in leaving an impact on Bond through M's death, but his affiliation as a former MI6 agent causes Bond to look inward, like he's seeing an alternate version of himself in a mirror.
If the original story plan had been executed, then Judi Dench's M may not have suffered the same fate. In fact, Silva may not have even been a villain the whole way through. In a recent interview, director Sam Mendes stated that they once had the idea to make James Bond and Raoul Silva team up in the middle of the film rather than him being an antagonist the whole way through. However, the idea never quite worked as it never felt right to have Bond team up with another alpha male, as Mendes explained. Thankfully, the idea did not come to fruition and Silva ended up being the most memorable of all the Bond villains in Daniel Craig's era.
Raoul Silva Is Better As An Outright Bond Villain
Raoul Silva teaming up with Bond is not only a problem for Bond's character, as working with Silva isn't a very logical choice given Bond's lone wolf personality, but also would strip away how well Silva works as a pure villain. One of his defining villain moments is in Skyfall's twist, when Silva reveals his identity as a former MI6 agent. This is a major reason why Silva works so well as an antagonist because he serves as a foil to Bond. When Bond sees what has happened to Silva, he sees an alternate path that he could've ended up going down while working for MI6. Raoul Silva is such a good villain because of how he affects Bond psychologically, causing him to ponder his morality while sifting through his trauma internally.
Why Silva Defines Modern Bond Villains
If Skyfall were a lone movie separated from the Bond franchise as a whole, then Silva would still work as a villain, but because it is part of a larger series Silva is even more memorable. He contributes to the larger themes and tone that the franchise shifted to in Daniel Craig's bleak James Bond era. It's an era where Bond is constantly dealing with grief. When Vesper Lynd dies in Casino Royale, the impact lasts throughout the Craig films and Bond can't find anybody to blame but himself. When Raoul Silva is inserted, he launches the era into a whole new level of bleakness, as now Bond has two important deaths to weigh on his conscience with the loss of M. It works as a confirmation of his guilt because he now thinks he is a danger to those around him, and he's not necessarily wrong.
Daniel Craig's James Bond dying in No Time To Die is perhaps the only moment in which he knows real peace in a series of films that are very dark below their action-packed surface. Raoul Silva plays a necessary role in making these films so dark and haunting for Bond up until that point. Skyfall choosing the reluctant team-up route would have totally shifted the franchise's tone, but instead, the right decision was made. Raoul Silva will forever be a standout villain in the James Bond franchise.
