Oberhauser - Who is he?

I've heard that the Oberhauser man, who is being played by Christoph Waltz, is in a previous Ian Fleming novel. If so which one? It may lead some clues into where he will fit in in "Spectre".

Comments

  • SirHilaryBraySirHilaryBray Scotland
    Posts: 2,138
    The son of Bonds Ski coach think in the novel OHMSS Bond remembers times on the slopes with him Fondly. He was also like a father figure to him after his fathers death.
  • KronsteenKronsteen Stockholm
    Posts: 783
    It's actually from Octopussy, the short-story. Hans Oberhauser, Bonds ski instructor from before the war, is killed by Major Smythe.

    But Waltz is playing Franz Oberhauser... don't know if there is a connection.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,328
    I think it's a false name to hide his real identity. Like John Harrison of Star Trek Into Darkness.
    Who was actually Khan.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,447
    I'm with @Murdock on this; I think he may very well be like Shatterhand in YOLT.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 5,921
    In any case, I love the nod to Fleming.
  • Kronsteen wrote: »
    It's actually from Octopussy, the short-story. Hans Oberhauser, Bonds ski instructor from before the war, is killed by Major Smythe.

    But Waltz is playing Franz Oberhauser... don't know if there is a connection.

    Yes, and the dead body of Hans Oberhauser was years later found, frozen in a melting glacier in Austria. And in that story, Bond eventually is send out to investigate this case. And then leads him to Major Dexter-Smythe. Bond confronts him with the facts....

    I mean. Rettenbachferner Glacier? Austria? Oberhauser? I find it slightly bit too easy to use Oberhauser as fake name in the film "SPECTRE", when everything in that short story is about a glacier in Austria.

    Perhaps, for the sake of that short story, the Bond producers actually wanted to go to Austria for exactly that plot development.

    And Waltz is playing Franz Oberhauser, the son of, possibly, the late Oberhauser? Moreover, there are friendship ties between the Oberhauser family and the Bond family (Andrew Bond in the short story was the best friend of Hans Oberhauser, and then later Bond saw Hans as a father-figure). Simply too easy for me to write off Oberhauser simply as a fake name.

    Nah, we don't know the exact plot yet....
  • I did think Blofeld but now, I'm not so sure. Why not use Shatterhand or some other, new name? Why Obenhauser?

    I think he's a new villain with the same background as the character in the novels (Bond's ski instructor). Could make for some great drama, Bond having to kill the closest thing he's ever really had to a father since his dad died.

    Blofeld I think will be in the movie, or maybe he'll just be mentioned, but he'll be in the shadows. Obenhauser will be a high ranking SPECTRE operative. I'm thinking the plot will involve SPECTRE forming from the remnants of Quantum. Quantum have almost been wiped out after QoS and White and all the old guard are killed as part of a coup, lead by Obenhauser. SPECTRE are formed.

    Bond defeats Obenhauser at the end but he isn't the leader of SPECTRE. We find out the real mastermind is a bloke called Blofeld. Bond vows to track him down, roll credits.

    That's how I see it playing out anyway. I think the SPECTRE arc will last for multiple films so I'm not sure that they'll introduce Blofeld right away.
  • I did think Blofeld but now, I'm not so sure. Why not use Shatterhand or some other, new name? Why Obenhauser?

    I think he's a new villain with the same background as the character in the novels (Bond's ski instructor). Could make for some great drama, Bond having to kill the closest thing he's ever really had to a father since his dad died.

    Blofeld I think will be in the movie, or maybe he'll just be mentioned, but he'll be in the shadows. Obenhauser will be a high ranking SPECTRE operative. I'm thinking the plot will involve SPECTRE forming from the remnants of Quantum. Quantum have almost been wiped out after QoS and White and all the old guard are killed as part of a coup, lead by Obenhauser. SPECTRE are formed.

    Bond defeats Obenhauser at the end but he isn't the leader of SPECTRE. We find out the real mastermind is a bloke called Blofeld. Bond vows to track him down, roll credits.

    That's how I see it playing out anyway. I think the SPECTRE arc will last for multiple films so I'm not sure that they'll introduce Blofeld right away.

    Exactly @TheLivingRoyale :-)

    Blofeld: At the very end of the film, role is cameo, small, but very important, actor who plays him is kept secret, hence the press presentation format today where no questions from press could be answered. He's the general director, operating, like you said, in the shadows, and founder of SPECTRE. For Bond #25 Blofeld Blofeld will have more screen time.
    Franz Oberhauser: Kronsteen/Largo-esque main villain of the film, played by Waltz, he's basically the CEO of SPECTRE, the executive director. He's the son of Hans Oberhauser, friend of Bond's dad, Andrew Bond. But he hold's the Bond family responsible for not solving the Hans Oberhauser-case faster. Hence becoming member of SPECTRE.


  • The idea of Bond coming into contact with to an evil organisation for the first time and being in icy mountains reminds me of High Time to Kill.
  • EiragornEiragorn Hessia
    Posts: 108
    In fact I'm sceptical right now. When it turns out he is not Blofeld then it's a missed opportunity. Otherwise all the fun and mystery has been blown by the oh-so-obvious title.
  • Eiragorn wrote: »
    In fact I'm sceptical right now. When it turns out he is not Blofeld then it's a missed opportunity. Otherwise all the fun and mystery has been blown by the oh-so-obvious title.

    We will definitely get Blofeld in this film whether it be mere mention of the mastermind of Spectre, whether he has a cameo at the end of the film or Waltz or another character is revealed to be Blofeld himself or an interpretation of the Blofeld character. We will get something.
  • I can see how he can be Blofeld in the film.

    SPECTRE starts after the events of SKYFALL. Bond is made in-active and desk bound whilst the death of the previous M is investigated by Denbigh from the Ministry of Defence who labels Bond and MI6 as reckless and calls for the service to be scrapped and replaced. This causes the MI6 Section Chiefs except Mallory to scapegoat Bond in order to save themselves.

    As this is going on a plane crashes in Austria and the victims are examined and shown to have died elsewhere and no trace as to why. One of the victims is a former government Minister who was reported a week ago of recovering from an unidentified illness. Watching events on TV is Bond who is alerted by Moneypenny, that a letter addressed to him is on her desk.

    Bond back at his office opens the letter and inside is a cryptic message that reads.

    Lfda MOTHER jrb r bgl ofa QUANTUM reu detfinanu r bvevbcna ORGANIZATION tryynu SPECTRE, jqf ran RESPONSIBLE ofa qna DEATH. Oveu LUCIA ve cqn CITY of ZOCALO reu SHE CAN cnyy YOU EVERYTHING. Go To Austria. I don't have much time. Regards Mr White.

    Bond is shocked as it mentions his mother and Mr White. Bond spends hours desperately without success to crack the code. Bond decides as instructed to go to Austria and visits an old family friend Franz Oberhauser the son of Hannes Oberhauser, who when Bond’s parents died was like a mentor to him.

    Bond to keep Franz safe doesn’t tell him of the cryptic message and tells him he is here to investigate the accident. Franz says he can get him access to the crash site, however they need to be careful as a lot of strange people have been seen near the site.
    Bond and Franz climb a nearby mountain and watch the coming and going from the crash site.

    Bond notices the familiar face of Mr White and telling Franz to go back to his chalet sneaks into the crash site. Bond gets near enough to Mr White to drag him to nearby trees. Bond interrogates Mr White who tells him he sent the cryptic message and before he can say anything he is shot, before he dies Mr White says stop SPECTRE and Lucia will clear your mum’s name. Running away as it has alerted the authorities is Hinx and Bond gives chase and results in an action packed ski chase which Hinx escapes.

    Making his way back to Franz’s chalet he finds the place has been trashed and blood splattered everywhere and no sign of Franz.

    Back in London Mallory is called to an enquiry and told by Denbigh that the 00 Section is deleted till further notice and Mallory demands why and is told we have uncovered Bonds mother Monique Delacroix Bond was a double agent selling knock lists to anyone who would buy them. Therefore, anyone who is connected to Bond is not trusted and Bond is to be terminated by 008 Madeline Swann the previous M’s by the book personal assassin.

    Intelligence via the word ZOCALO links a former member of Quantum to a luxary villa in Mexico City and Bond finds the beautiful Lucia Sciarra, a woman who is revealed as the head of Quantum. Bond threatens to kill her if she doesn’t tell him about his mother. Lucia tells Bond Quantum was set up by her father to infiltrate SPECTRE and kill high profile members and his mum was Quantum’s top agent.

    Bond resists the urge to attack Lucia and calls her a liar and Lucia shows him evidence of his mother being a member.

    Lucia tells Bond that before his parents died his mum had discovered the founder of SPECTRE was Hans whose real name was Eryk Blofeld, he took the Oberhauser name from his father. Hans had his men attack your mother and father who fought back and was about to kill Hans when he told them and you would be killed if they didn’t kill themselves. Your parents knowing this would happen as Hans’s second in command was Franz who’s real name is Ernst Stavro Blofeld, was looking after you at the time. They decided to make it look like a climbing accident.

    Bond tells Lucia that Hans was killed by a man called Major Smyth, who later committed suicide as he was a double agent. Lucia tells him he did kill Hans on the orders of MI6 and like his parents did kill himself to protect someone close to him. Bond asks about Vesper and Lucia confirmed she was a SPECTRE Agent and did so out of shame and love for him.

    Lucia continues to tell Bond SPECTRE is an evil organisation that has infiltrated every Intelligence Agency over the last 44 years and is far more complex and dangerous than anything ever imagined and seen before.

    On a mission that leads Bond to Austria, Rome, Mexico and Morocco, Bond discovers that Blofeld, is planning to flood the world’s pharmaceutical industry on a pandemic scale with a drug that causes instant addiction and death within a week. He then plans to sell to the highest bidder the antidote.

    In a story of treachery, many murders and deceit, Bond allies with Mallory, Moneypenny, Q, Tanner, 008 and a Commando Unit called ASSUALT 30 developed by M. This results in an epic gun battle at Blofeld’s top secret base in Morocco. In the gun battle and despite Bond killing Hinx, Blofeld manages to escape and Denbigh is found to be a member of SPECTRE. Blofeld was using him to dismantle MI6 and develop a new organization which Denbigh would run. Blofeld seen this as revenge on MI6, for the death of his father.

    With Denbigh exposed the 00 section is reactivated and Denbigh is tracked to Jamaica by 008 and is not given the option of suicide and is killed by 008.

    Back at M’s Office he tells Bond that SPECTRE is the world’s most dangerous threat and Blofeld will strike again, to which Bond replies I look forward to it.

    End Credits Say James Bond Will Return In FOREVER IS NOT ENOUGH (As will Blofled?)


  • I'm still not assuming Waltz is automatically playing Blofeld, but it is interesting to note the loose English translation of the name Oberhauser.

    Ober: Top
    Haus: House

    Oberhauser: Head of the House?
  • I'm still not assuming Waltz is automatically playing Blofeld, but it is interesting to note the loose English translation of the name Oberhauser.

    Ober: Top
    Haus: House

    Oberhauser: Head of the House?

    Oberhauser is also a very common Austrian surname @Some_Kind_Of_Hero :-P. But....at this stage, with so much mystery surrounding the actual plot and the detailed role descriptions, anything can be true :-P.
  • I'm still not assuming Waltz is automatically playing Blofeld, but it is interesting to note the loose English translation of the name Oberhauser.

    Ober: Top
    Haus: House

    Oberhauser: Head of the House?

    Oberhauser is also a very common Austrian surname @Some_Kind_Of_Hero :-P. But....at this stage, with so much mystery surrounding the actual plot and the detailed role descriptions, anything can be true :-P.

    Oh I don't doubt it's a common name. Just from a writer's perspective, if you wanted to play with words, there are certainly connotations to be found there.
  • edited December 2014 Posts: 2,015
    So the journalist who got the scoop of the Oberhauser name was correct, but the second scoop according to which this name was just a red herring is already forgotten ? People wonder about a twist, and Oberhauser being a pure lie based on the Austrian location is not considered at all ?

    Mendes didn't even pronounce the name, remember ! Maybe he found telling a blatant lie created by the PR department was not respectful to the audience, who knows ?
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,328
    It's obvious he's trying to pull the same trick J.J. Abrams did. Hopefully Mendes will do it better.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Looking at the source material...

    Hannes Oberhauser was an Austrian climbing and skiing instructor who taught Bond while he was on term breaks while attending Fettes College. He formed a very strong paternal relationship with James, to such an extent that he referred to him as his second father. One day he mysteriously disappeared.

    http://jamesbond.wikia.com/wiki/Hannes_Oberhauser

    Maybe Bond could hear about Oberhauser's disappearance and that brings him to Austria and all over the globe, somehow connecting SPECTRE/Quantum/Mr. White to his friend's vanishing act.

    Others here know Fleming much better than I, and could no doubt better inform me on the character of Hannes Oberhauser.
  • The actual source material (Ian Fleming text) is even available online, not legally obviously, but very easy to find. I won't quote the two lines where Bond describes his relationship with Oberhauser for fear of copyright issues, but this wikia entry is somehow building on the original quote !
  • Posts: 2,491
    Murdock wrote: »
    I think it's a false name to hide his real identity. Like John Harrison of Star Trek Into Darkness.
    Who was actually Khan.
    So Waltz will play
    Khan
    in Spectre ? :O :O

    :D
  • Posts: 14,799
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    I'm with @Murdock on this; I think he may very well be like Shatterhand in YOLT.

    Or Monsieur le Comte de Bleuville.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    It is an alias for Dr No.

    According to Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, Kim Jong-Il was a huge fan of the Connery Bonds, and especially Dr. No- "You know, the evil guy with the cat." :-w
  • edited December 2014 Posts: 14,799
    It is an alias for Dr No.

    According to Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, Kim Jong-Il was a huge fan of the Connery Bonds, and especially Dr. No- "You know, the evil guy with the cat." :-w

    Shows how uninformed are medias about Bond lore.

    Anyway, I reread the description of Blofeld in OHMSS and I believe more and more that Christoph Waltz will play him. Both in appearance and demeanor, Waltz is very much like the novel's Blofeld.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Oberhaus is German for House of Lords. Last time we had a Franz as major Bond villain he was a drug Lord. Coincidence? Yes, of course.
  • Posts: 14,799
    Oberhaus is German for House of Lords. Last time we had a Franz as major Bond villain he was a drug Lord. Coincidence? Yes, of course.

    Not sure if you are serious.
  • aaron819aaron819 Switzerland
    Posts: 1,208
    Bonds childhood ski instructor
  • I am almost fully convinced that he is Blofeld, based on the fact that they kept us guessing with Eve's identity right up until they revealed who she was in the film. The same with the character of Miranda Tate in the Dark Knight Rises.
  • Posts: 14,799
    I am almost fully convinced that he is Blofeld, based on the fact that they kept us guessing with Eve's identity right up until they revealed who she was in the film. The same with the character of Miranda Tate in the Dark Knight Rises.

    And also, Blofeld used aliases in the novels. In OHMSS' you read his description and he does have many traits that fit Christoph Waltz.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    @Gustav_Graves , @thelivingroyale . Convinced now?
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 12,914
    Bond half recognized Oberhauser at the funeral and the Spectre meeting, later fully recalled him in part as associated to the childhood photo recovered from Skyfall (incomplete) and later seen at the Spectre lair (made complete). To make that all a mental manipulation really weakens Bond's powers of evaluation.
    AdaShelby wrote: »
    Eiragorn wrote: »
    In fact I'm sceptical right now. When it turns out he is not Blofeld then it's a missed opportunity. Otherwise all the fun and mystery has been blown by the oh-so-obvious title.
    We will definitely get Blofeld in this film whether it be mere mention of the mastermind of Spectre, whether he has a cameo at the end of the film or Waltz or another character is revealed to be Blofeld himself or an interpretation of the Blofeld character. We will get something.
    So Bond met Blofeld in the previous film but they won't recognize each other in the next one.
    What are the chances for something like that happening in the franchise.
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