Credit: MGM/EON ProductionsRight now, it’s hard to tell what kind of James Bond film director Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two) and writer Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) are cooking up with Amazon MGM.
Not only is the film awaiting a release date, but recently, Deadline reported that the hunt for the next 007 actor won’t even begin until Villeneuve completes Dune: Part Three sometime next year. But what we do know is that they’re looking for an “unknown” actor in their late 20s/early 30s, which rules out pretty much any contender who’s been name-dropped so far.
What we can expect are the usual ingredients: gadgets, weapons, tuxedos, smooth one-liners, all the MI6 regulars, exotic locations, evil villains, martinis (shaken, not stirred), cool cars, a signature song, and the iconic opening sequence. But what about Bond’s leading women — often dubbed “Bond girls”?
Whether it’s Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, or Daniel Craig, it’s no stretch to say that Bond has always been a bit of a “ladies man” — in fact, that’s a huge understatement.
But times have changed, and the most recent films — the “Daniel Craig era” — already started to somewhat lean away from the MI6 spy’s frivolous liaisons with the opposite sex.
While he’s still very much a ladies man in those films, he also gave his heart to two women: Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd from Casino Royale (2006) and Léa Seydoux’s Madeleine Swann from Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021). By the end of his five-film run, Craig’s Bond had even become a father.
But long before Amazon MGM’s film hits theaters, another reboot will arrive in the form of “007 First Light”. The third-person title from IO Interactive reimagines Bond (Dexter: Original Sin‘s Patrick Gibson) as a younger man on his journey to acquiring his 00 status. And though there are plenty of familiar traits, it seems the developers are avoiding certain ones.
Speaking to GamesRadar+ at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, IO Interactive’s franchise director Jonathan Lacaille said that the developer’s decision to set the game during a period of James Bond’s life that’s “not been covered much” is “the [most] exciting part” of the project.
Now, obviously, he wouldn’t be 007 without those personality traits, but seeing as “007 First Light” is an origin story, the developers can probably get away with it in the eyes of the fans.
But, as Lacaille puts it, “Was he always the womanizer that he is?”, which means they aren’t necessarily doing away with this part of the MI6 spy’s nature — we’re just meeting Bond at an earlier time in his life. In other words, the developers are considering both modern and younger audiences.
Bond wouldn’t be Bond without those female characters occupying his world, either. Each film features femme fatales dubbed “Bond girls”, from A View to a Kill’s May Day (Grace Jones) to Casino Royale‘s Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). And you’ll be glad to know that “007 First Light” doesn’t break this tradition, with Noémie Nakai starring in the game as the enigmatic Miss Roth.
She’s joined by other important female characters: Priyanga Burford’s M, Kiera Lester’s Miss Moneypenny, and Gemma Chan’s newly created character, Selina Tan, MI6’s Head of Tactical Simulation.
On the male side of the lineup, there’s Lennie James (The Walking Dead) as Bond’s mentor Greenway, Alastair Mackenzie as gadget-maker Q, and, of course, 007 himself.
“007 First Light is “a thrilling narrative action-adventure game developed and published by IO Interactive,” the official website’s synopsis reads. “Follow James Bond as a young, resourceful, and sometimes reckless recruit in MI6’s training program, and discover an origin story of the world’s most famous spy.”
The game will be released on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows on March 27, 2026.
Are you excited about playing “007 First Light”? Let us know in the comments!