Andrew Scott Joins Cast of New Bond Film

Photo by JUCO

The cast of Spectre, the 24th installment of the James Bond franchise, has been announced and OUT100 honoree Andrew Scott is officially on-board. Scott--who rocketed to stardom as Sherlock Holmes' archenemy, Moriarty, in Sherlock--will play Denbigh, a British secret service agent.

Also joining the cast is Christoph Waltz, who will play Oberhauser--believed to the film's primary antagonist and member of the titular terrorist organization, which was last mentioned in 2008's Quantum of Solace. Rumors were swirling that Waltz would play Ernst Stavro Blofeld, one of the series' main villains (and the inspiration behind Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films).

ET speculates that Oberhauser is Hannes Oberhauser, "a character from the book series considered to be Bond's second father."

Lea Seydoux (of Blue is the Warmest Colour fame) and Monica Bellucci have also signed on. They will play Bond girls Madeleine Swann and Lucia Sciarra, respectively. Finally, Dave Bautista, a professional wrestler whom you'll remember from Guardians of the Galaxy, will play Mr. Hinx, who is probably a henchman, because that's the most henchman sounding name ever.

Ben Whishaw

Ben Whishaw, who just last year entered into a civil partnership with Australian composer Mark Bradshaw, will return as Q--MI6's resident quartermaster. Naomi Harris (Eve Moneypenny), Rory Kinnear (Tanner), Ralph Fiennes (M) and 007 himself, Daniel Craig, will all be returning to reprise their roles.

Spectre, which stands for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, has antagonized 007 since the beginning--Dr. No was a member. According to the film's tagline, the movie's plot revolves around "A cryptic message from Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE."

Though there is no word on who will sing the theme song, Sam Smith is rumored to be a front runner.

[h/t ET]