Young James Bond Emerges with Lennie James Co-Starring

Today's PlayStation State of Play presentation offered our first detailed glimpse of 007 First Light, the upcoming James Bond title from Hitman developer IO Interactive, scheduled for a 2026 release.

A cinematic trailer for the game introduced a new, young James Bond at the very start of his career as a secret agent.

The preview also confirmed the participation of The Walking Dead star Lennie James, who will play a key supporting role in the story.

007 First Light's trailer discloses that this incarnation of James Bond witnessed his parents' death at just 11 years old during a mountain climbing accident, where they sacrificed themselves to save him. Young Bond subsequently managed to descend the mountain alone.

IO Interactive's Bond project was initially revealed in 2020 under the codename Project 007, with few details emerging since. From the beginning, the studio stated it was crafting an original origin story, not directly adapting any existing film plot.

More recently, IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak expressed hope that 007 First Light would launch a new game trilogy. However, this focus has temporarily paused development on the beloved Hitman series. It was also confirmed this past April that, alongside PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, the game will also launch on Nintendo's next-generation Switch 2 console.

Developing...