007 First Light Unveils Our New James Bond Villain, Lenny Kravitz Joins

The Game Awards is continuing at a speed that I'm assuming the gathered audience can barely keep up with, as awards and trailers hit our screens in a cacophony of pretty exciting madness.

Clair Obscur has picked up its first awards of the evening, scooping the prizes for Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game and Best Art Direction, with Jennifer English taking home the prize for Best Performance.

In terms of new games, the headline acts are undoubtedly Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic and Divinity, as well as two new games in the ever-beloved Lara Croft series.

Now, we also have some news about our main antagonist in the upcoming James Bond adaptation 007: First Light, and it's a very big name that is joining the cast.

Lenny Kravitz Confirmed for 007: First Light

IOI Interactive

Music legend and four time Grammy winner Lenny Kravitz will be taking on the role of Bawma, the main antagonist in the upcoming James Bond adaptation from Hitman developer IOI Interactive, 007: First Light.

The character has an impressive design and a very cool backstory that should slot perfectly into the series, though we will inevitably learn plenty about his motivations now that the secret is out.

Kravitz went on to describe his decision to take the role in the series, as well as a little bit more about the character, saying, "When IOI invited me to play Bawma, a wild, unpredictable pirate ruler of Africa's biggest black market hub, I knew I was stepping into something special. Where others see chaos, Bawma sees freedom. He rose from nothing, broke free and built his own kingdom of Aleph. And his story is only just beginning."

It's certainly a departure from the usual range of suave bad guys in highly-expensive, tailored suits with nondescript European accents challenging Mr Bond to a game of cards.

That doesn't mean that those classic elements from the franchise won't be returning though, as the gameplay footage we've seen so far does show off the usual mixture of very nice cars, enormous French-style chateaus and more private security than you can shake a stick at.

The very cool thing about 007: First Light is that we don't have to wait long at all to get our hands on it, with a currently scheduled release date of 26 March 2026 (assuming there aren't any heartbreaking last minute delays of any kind).