The team behind 007 First Light has explained a bit more about why they felt it was important to cover James Bond’s origin story. 007 First Light is one of the biggest games releasing next year and it comes after many, many years of hype. 007 First Light was originally announced as Project 007 in 2020, seemingly not long after the game was greenlit. As IO Interactive began to put the idea of more Hitman sequels in the rear view mirror, it became clear that the studio’s next big focus was on making a new game around the world’s greatest spy.
007 First Light was formally announced in June with its first trailer and the title reveal. It confirms that James Bond is much younger than previous iterations and that’s for a key reason, this isn’t just a regular Bond story, it’s an origin story. Bond’s life before becoming 007 hasn’t been tackled on-screen yet. We briefly see a glimpse of him earning his 007 status at the start of Casino Royale, but it’s very quick and is done to show that Daniel Craig’s Bond is a far more brutal and rougher take on the dapper spy. However, we will get to see James Bond’s entire journey to becoming 007, as well as learn a bit about his childhood, in 007 First Light.
007 First Light Developer Explains Why They’re Telling James Bond’s Origin Story
IO Interactive is still holding back a lot of information on 007 First Light, even refraining from confirming who the new James Bond actor is until later in the summer. However, ComicBook’s Tanner Dedmon sat down with 007 Franchise Director Jonathan Lacaille and talked a bit about why they decided to focus on a younger Bond (he’s 26 in this game). IO Interactive was interested in exploring the way Bond becomes 007 as opposed to viewing them as one in the same. Bond has a lot of the traits we know and love in the game, but it’s a matter of learning how to weaponize them or using it all to his advantage.
“Everyone knows how established Bond is in the movies and when taking the approach of a young Bond, we had to think a lot about how this character was and the journey he went through to become the character that we know today,” said Lacaille. “There are a lot of traits that are a bit more raw, like the charm, his wits, he doesn’t know how to weaponize it yet. He’s quite reckless, he’s kinda reckless in the movies, but in our game, he’s head on, thinking about the objective, thinking it’s the right thing to do and he’s not following orders. He thinks the right thing justifies a lot of things and M sees a lot of potential him.”
A big part of it also comes down to relatability for a younger audience, possibly one that may not even be that familiar with the movies as the franchise has slowed down its output in recent years and this may be an entry point to the series for some people.
“We wanted to make Bond more relatable, because the audience on consoles, the bulk of it is roughly 25 – 35 and younger, so we felt that to start with the origin story to introduce a new character to people who may know James Bond, but aren’t very close to it,” said Lacaille. “Introducing the character in his early days makes more sense and of course, it’s a bit more relatable to play a 26 year old if you’re 26.”
Despite IO Interactive not confirming anything themselves, it’s believed that Dexter: Original Sin actor Patrick Gibson is playing James Bond in 007 First Light. They look extremely similar, have the same voices, and so on. However, we will probably get direct confirmation later this year.
The post 007 First Light Developer Reveals Why They’re Telling Bond’s Origin Story appeared first on ComicBook.com.
