Warning! Spoilers ahead for 007: First Light!It’s been almost five years since Daniel Craig’s exit as 007 in 2021’s No Time to Die, and the franchise has been eerily quiet ever since. Although odd pieces of information have been made known about what’s next for the iconic superspy, we’ve largely been dealing with scraps when it comes to when James Bond will make his big-screen comeback. That being said, there has been a sudden boom in activity in recent weeks. From an intensified search to find Craig’s replacement, to the rumors of a live-action origin story, all the way to an incredible new project hitting the shelves recently. With any luck, the latter will heavily inspire the former.
I’ve just finished my first playthrough of the excellent 007: First Light, the first franchise installment to focus exclusively on Bond’s origin story. At the very least, it introduces a lot of lore about his MI6 recruitment and formative missions. Played by Patrick Gibson (Original Sin’s Dexter Morgan), First Light‘s Bond embarks on a series of assignments that all tie together to tell an impressively cohesive tale of how he cut his teeth in spycraft. While First Light and any potential sequels are expected to remain contained to their own universe, the movies’ influence on the new version of Ian Fleming’s adrenaline-fueled saga cannot be denied. Hopefully, Amazon allows the games to return the favor by adapting two of First Light‘s biggest reveals and including them in the upcoming live-action reboot.
Various corners of the James Bond franchise have the character’s MI6 career beginning at different points. It depends on whether you’re reading the books, watching the films, or engaging with other adaptations or continuations written by various authors. However, what’s often treated as Bond’s origin story is his first mission as a bona fide 00 agent. What the franchise has largely ignored, or at least often brushes over, is the time Bond spent in training to earn his 00 status. That’s why First Light is so unique. It revolves very heavily around getting Gibson’s version of the character ready for active service.
During this fascinating pocket of time, there is one figure who turns out to be particularly instrumental to Bond’s development: John Greenway. Played by The Walking Dead’s Lennie James in First Light, Greenway is a brand-new character. He’s very resistant to the idea of Bond joining the 00 program, which Greenway has been put in charge of running. Not only is Bond coming aboard when training is already deeply underway, but Greenway has also read Bond’s file and is aware of his reputation as something of a loose canon. The two remain at odds for a large portion of the game, although a genuine respect and borderline father/son dynamic eventually starts to develop.
When Greenway arrives during a mission gone wrong to serve as Bond’s much-needed backup, the collaboration feels incredibly earned. By extension, Greenway’s death during said mission is an emotional gut punch. If the next 007 movie does take the form of an origin story, which has been rumored for a while now, I think Greenway’s arc should make the jump to live-action. It’s a fresh and foundational part of the backstory of Gibson’s Bond, and would give similarly young iterations of the character just as much depth. Not only that, but how hard Greenway pushes Bond is a very believable reason why he’s so elite as 007.
Other 00 agents being mentioned, or even shown, is nothing new in the James Bond franchise. What’s far less common is multiple 00 agents being introduced at the same time, and made to feel like they really matter to the story at large. I get it, Bond is a lone wolf. Doesn’t play well with others. Etc, etc. First Light doesn’t ignore those elements of Bond’s character. If anything, it intensifies and explains them. At first, I thought the game was going to champion an ensemble cast, but the idea of Bond working as part of a team did not last long, no matter how wholesome it was. When the recruits are forced into service before officially becoming 00 agents, the mission they undertake goes horribly wrong. Long story short, Bond becomes the only one available to continue.
Every 00 Recruit by the End of 007: First Light
Character
Actor
Status
Marcus Singh
Nicholas Prasad
Deceased
Alexandra Ronson
Samantha Béart
Wounded in Action
Robert Nash
Ewan Black
Missing in Action
Lennox Monroe
Chris O’Reilly
Killed in Action
Kristina Kingsley
Lydia Fraser
Killed in Action
Cressida Bright
Jessica Rhodes
Wounded in Action
James Bond
Patrick Gibson
Active as 007
Three of the recruits perish, and the others are a mixture of killed and mission in action. I have a theory that the missing recruit will return as a villain in a sequel, which would also be great if adapted for the new movies – but I digress. My main point here is that Bond was the seventh and last agent to be recruited to the 00 program, but the only one at the end of the game who was officially made a 00 agent. M tries to make him 001, to be precise, but he rejects the code name out of respect for those who came before him. I really like this explanation for why Bond is 007. I know there doesn’t necessarily need to be a special reason for it, but First Light makes Bond’s code name seem less arbitrary. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a must-have piece of lore for Steven Knight’s new movie script.
Granted, there are quite a few elements of First Light‘s storyline that are ultra-modern and only make sense in a present-day setting. The AI-heavy plot is incredibly relevant to 2026. Parts of it could be scaled down to make sense in earlier eras, but it wouldn’t be the same. On the other hand, the very human and grounded reveals, like Greenway’s death and the fate of Bond’s fellow 00 recruits, aren’t restricted to just happening in the 21st century. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that even the most iconic versions of Bond, like Sean Connery and Roger Moore, lost a mentor-turned-father figure while training to be a 00 agent. Even if they never talk about it.
Conversely, is it really so wild to also accept that previous iterations of Bond all landed on the 007 moniker as a respectful tribute to their fallen peers? I don’t think so. Therefore, while it’s highly unlikely these parts of Bond’s origin story in First Light will ever be made canon to the books or older movies, there’s nothing stopping me from folding them in to my own interpretation of the source material and their existing adaptations. I encourage you to do the same, if you want. On that same thought, maybe the next string of James Bond movies will follow suit.
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No *MAJOR SPOILER WARNING* or anything…. Not cool…
There is one at the top of the page.
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