How 007 First Light's Bond characters compare to Daniel Craig's movies

1 hour ago 1

Published May 27, 2026, 12:29 PM EDT

How similar are they?

The left half of the image shows James Bond (Daniel Craig) in No Time To Die while the right half of the image shows James Bond (Patrick Gibson) in 007 First Light.

007 First Light is a fantastic James Bond game, arguably the best of all time. From the plot to the cast, it feels like it could slot into the modern era of Bond films, the most recent of which was No Time To Die in 2021, and due to… events, shall we say, in that film, Daniel Craig's era is done.

The search for a new actor is currently underway for the 26th Bond film, but with it still many moons out, the new game is our best point of comparison. We're taking a look at how all the recurring characters in the series appear in 007 First Light compared to Bond’s most recent outing, No Time To Die.

James Bond (Daniel Craig / Patrick Gibson)

First up, the big dog himself. Daniel Craig is the sixth actor to play James Bond in the main Eon Productions films, portraying 007 from 2006 (Casino Royale) until 2021 (No Time To Die). Craig's introduction to the role rebooted James Bond as we know him; previous iterations of the character on the silver screen neglected to show much of his upbringing, but in the "modern" era of Bond, we know more about his backstory, and he's shown as someone who can make mistakes.

Even though Craig is almost 30 years older than Patrick Gibson, that more emotion-led approach to the character carries over to 007 First Light. After all, Bond isn't actually 007 in the game; he's just an MI6 recruit, and since he's much younger, he's chirpier, full of back-chat, and much rougher around the edges. Personality-wise, Gibson appears to have modeled his Bond interpretation on Craig, just much greener and less experienced in the field.

The left half of the image shows Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) in Spectre while the right half of the image shows Moneypenny (Kiera Lester) in 007 First Light.

Eve Moneypenny, who was known just as "Moneypenny" or "Miss Moneypenny" until Skyfall (2012), didn't feature in the first two Craig-era Bond films. From Skyfall onward, however, she was played by Naomie Harris (Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Moonlight, 28 Days Later). Throughout the earlier Bond films, Moneypenny was M's secretary, but Harris' character is introduced as a field agent who also does plenty of desk work. By the end of No Time To Die, she and Bond are close friends.

In 007 First Light, on the other hand, Kiera Lester's Moneypenny is the first MI6 employee Bond interacts with, as he's guided through the game's opening Iceland level with her in his ear. She operates solely from MI6 headquarters, and quickly becomes good friends with Bond, to the point where he teases her about the man she's on a date with and vice versa. She isn't M's secretary here, though, as Loelia Ponsonby, a character from the Ian Fleming novels, is introduced briefly in that role in the game.

M (Ralph Fiennes / Priyanga Burford)

The left half of the image shows M (Ralph Fiennes) in No Time To Die while the right half of the image shows M (Priyanga Burford) in 007 First Light.

Fans of the first three Craig-era Bond films will recognise Dame Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love, Mrs. Brown, Philomena) as M, but after her character’s passing in Skyfall, Ralph Fiennes (28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Schindler's List, In Bruges) stepped into the role. M is the head of MI6, and despite his frequent dismay at Bond's defiance of authority, the two have somewhat of a mutual understanding and respect for each other. In No Time To Die, M obeys Bond's request to fire the missiles that ultimately lead to his death, when he can't escape the island in time.

In the game, Priyanga Burford (Legends, Industry, Press) is M. Fun fact: Burford also featured in No Time To Die, as Dr. Symes, one of the scientists working on creating Heracles, the biomechanical nanoweapon. However, she's shot dead in the opening minutes by Spectre mercenaries. Her role as M is much more prominent, and in 007 First Light, she's under considerable pressure to keep her job for much of the game due to Bond's antics and tendency to do his own thing.

Q (Ben Whishaw / Alastair Mackenzie)

The left half of the image shows Q (Ben Whishaw) in Skyfall while the right half of the image shows Q (Alastair Mackenzie) in 007 First Light.

Finally, we have Q, the immensely intelligent inventor who designs all manner of gadgets and weapons for double-O agents to use. Much like Moneypenny, Q was absent for the first two films in Craig's era, but returned for Skyfall, where he's played by the much younger Ben Whishaw (Paddington, This Is Going To Hurt, Cloud Atlas). This was the first time Q had been younger than 007, and in the pair's first meeting, Bond's in disbelief at how green Q is. Throughout the next three films, he gives Bond all sorts of high-tech tools: his iconic Walther PPK, this time biometrically-encoded to only work in Bond's hands; smart blood, to trace Bond wherever he goes; and an electromagnetic watch that Bond uses to kill Primo (Dali Benssalah from Athena, All Your Faces, The Orphans) by overloading his prosthetic eye.

The Q in 007 First Light is much more reminiscent of the earlier Bond films, with Alastair Mackenzie (Andor, The Crown, Black Mirror) taking up the reins. He plays a significant role here, as he gives Bond the Q-Watch, which is a device that can remotely hack electronic systems, and is pivotal to the game's core mechanics. Additionally, he gives Bond gadgets including a smoke bomb, flash mine, nausea-inducing dart, and more. He has an enormous laboratory in-game, full of scientists all working on improving his various inventions, which is a stark contrast to how we're only ever introduced to Q himself in the films, and not his team of subordinates.