The Daniel Craig Bond films took the franchise in a largely fantastic new direction, but one idea they never embraced might be the perfect territory for007 First Lightto explore. As a new video game starring anoriginal iteration of James Bond,007 First Lighthas the opportunity to reinvent the franchise without falling as directly into the shadow of the Craig era as a new film would. Developed byHitmanstudio IO Interactive, the game takes things back to an origin story, dealing with a younger Bond finding his footing as a Double-O agent.
While that’s already fresh enough in and of itself, it also provides an interesting opportunity to re-examine Bond’s character in a way that the Craig films never did. The Craig films reckon heavily with what the character means in a 21st-century context, andCasino Royaleexits the gate running with a more rough-and-tumble Bond and a fascinating look at topics like masculinity. Even with elements of reinvention, however, Bond still feels like a man out of time, and007 First Lightcould excel by taking the opposite approach.
Daniel Craig’s Bond Was Fighting Against The Tide
A Man In A New Era
Bond has always been a very 20th-century character in some core respects, andthe Daniel Craig movies went through significant efforts to re-establish theJames Bondfranchise as a 21st-century story. The final Pierce Brosnan 007 film, 2002’sDie Another Day, was widely criticized for its awkward attempts to maintain and update the classic world of Bond spycraft.Casino Royaleflipped everything on its head, lending the character a new edge and grounding him in a context that felt more real to audiences of the new millennium.
Craig’s Bond certainly isn’t the same man that Sean Connery played, but as his era of films goes on, it becomes increasingly obvious that he isn’t truly meant to represent a 21st-century spy.The films increasingly reckon with the idea of Bond as an artifact, an alienated man fighting the tide of inevitable progress. His brazen methods are frequently painted as archaic, and although he continually reasserts his utility against these accusations, the sense that the world will eventually leave him behind mounts with each successive film.
This isn’t to say that Bond does end up outmoded, and in many ways,No Time to Dieis about him adapting and moving beyond ego to outmaneuver a villain who represents everything new. That evolution is necessary, however, becausetime forces Craig’s Bond to keep clawing forward. He accepts a new world and re-finds himself in it, but it’s a very different beast from the mold that shaped him.
007 First Light Can Make Bond A Man Of His Times
It’s Time For A New Take
With anew take on a younger Bond,007 First Lighthas the chance to reset this clock. Updating the character doesn’t mean that all of his classic touchstones need to be left behind, and based on the reveal trailer, it doesn’t look like that needs to be a relevant fear.007 First Light’s Bond falls closer in appearance to the agent described in the books than any of the major film versions do, down to thescar decorating his cheek.
This Bond exists in a world with sleek laptops and strobe-lit nightclubs straight out ofJohn Wick, however, and making him a product of that modern setting could draw a clear line between the game’s character and any of the previous film versions. While there’s something inherently old-school about a spy determining the fates of nations with his fists,IOI’s take on the character could also navigate a globalized world with a sense of belonging, not as a man apart. This is the first on-screen Bond young enough to have grown up with modern technology, and that difference should show.
A True 21st Century Bond Could Look Totally Different
Pivoting Hard Makes Forging A Future For Bond Easier
The Daniel Craig Bond era had its ups and downs, but living up to its peaks is a tall order, andembracing differences might be the best way to navigate this challenge. Repeating the same themes of an extraordinary man fighting against inevitable fossilization would likely lead to diminishing returns. The nostalgic thrill thatSkyfallleans on or the dichotomy of ideals thatNo Time to Diedraws between Bond and Safin aren’t things that the game should simply repeat because they worked once before.
While I don’t expect007 First Lightto create a Bond that I love more than Daniel Craig’s version, I’d love for it to make the comparison as indirect as possible. A James Bond story doesn’t have to be an uncritical romp that ignores the changing world, but it also doesn’t have to make that changing world an inherent threat to its central character.007 First Lightcould deliver a true 21st-century 007, and if it does, I’ll be first in line to see how far it can take the concept.
