The last time audiences saw James Bond (Daniel Craig) in "Casino Royale," he'd introduced himself to the mysterious Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) by putting a bullet through his leg. Both are back in November's "Quantum of Solace," and judging by this night's shoot at the opera stage at the Bregenz Festival in Austria, White is doing much better.

"It's healing nicely," Christensen quips.

Part of a secret organization known as Quantum, White finds himself in Bond's crosshairs as he seeks revenge for the death of his beloved Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in "Casino Royale."

Out of all the talent available for interviews, Christensen is the coyest about his character's motivations. With the new film beginning only an hour after "Casino," he begrudgingly admits an interrogation scene occurs, but when asked how brutal it is, Christensen only smiles and says, "Ask Daniel. I can't tell you."

However, Christensen was willing to chat about his goal of making White as realistic a villain as Bond, the "good guy," is a hero. He notes, "The modern Bond is slightly dumb, very violent, very efficient and very sort of going his own way. And you're not quite sure you can trust him with anything because, obviously, he's not that clever. So, if you compare him to the Roger Moore version, which was always sort of on top of everything carrying a drink, Daniel's is a much more angry person."

(As you can guess, when Craig was told of his Bond being referred to as "slightly dumb," he responded with a look of disbelief. Christensen may want to pray that interrogation scene doesn't need any reshoots.)

White also segues the story to the film's new nemesis, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric from "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"). To the public, Greene is an environmentally friendly tycoon that Amalric describes as "very nice, very civilized and adorable." Obviously, he has other motivations, but Amalric appreciates that he's not as transparent as previous Bond adversaries.

"Of course, they could have made an occidental film and said, 'The villain is al-Qaida,' but it's so stupid and easy, it wouldn't surprise people and I think people would get bored," Amalric says.

Amalric also reveals the movie's eventual mano-a-mano confrontation with Bond is somewhat unusual. The original script had him possessing a "secret skill" of martial arts, but Amalric, director Marc Forster and Craig realized that wouldn't work if audiences were going to take the character seriously.

"Why should I know kung fu? He's just a guy who works in ecology," Amalric says. "That's how I can surprise Bond, because he's used to fighting people who are professionals. It's Tai [bo]. It's boxing. He knows how to deal [with that], but a guy who doesn't know how to fight? It's like a schoolyard [brawl]."

Not surprisingly, White and Greene aren't waging their secret campaign alone. Greene's cousin Elvis (Anatole Taubman) is his second in command and responsible for taking care of the dirty work. However, Taubman insists Elvis isn't your typical Bond henchman.

"In previous Bond films, there was this big rift between the villain and the henchman. There is more of a balance now," Taubman says. "He can't do without me and I can't do without him."

While Greene is a model of calm, Taubman says, "The devil I think is an angel compared to Elvis if he ever gets mad."

Well, at least one villain makes it immediately clear who moviegoers should root against.

"Quantum of Solace" opens nationwide Nov. 7.

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