2026 is shaping up to be a huge year for James Bond, and with a film reboot from Amazon MGM Studios in development, the next couple of years will be even bigger.May 27 saw the release of the highly anticipated third-person action-adventure video game 007 First Light from IO Interactive. Starring Patrick Gibson (Dexter: Original Sin) as Bond, the title has been well received by critics and sold nearly 3 million copies in the two weeks since launch.Credit: IO Interactive under license from Amazon MGM Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Eon ProductionsThe spotlight has also been focused on the untitled film reboot, which has Denis Villeneuve (the Dune films) onboard as director and Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) on script-writing duties. Casting is now underway, and so speculation around who the next Bond will be continues.But as we wait for that inevitable announcement from Amazon MGM, a new James Bond has already been cast, and he’s the youngest version of the character you’ll ever hear.Credit: MGM/EON ProductionsA Teenage James Bond Has Officially Been CastEarlier this year, Big Finish Productions and Ian Fleming Publications announced a new audio drama series that will adapt author Charlie Higson’s first Young Bond novel SilverFin. And in June, Collider reported that British actor Isaac Rouse had been cast as James Bond.While Rouse is 24, he will play the teenage version of the character, as seen in the book, making him one of the youngest Bonds ever.In 007 First Light, Gibson plays a 26-year-old MI6 recruit. In film, George Lazenby still holds the title as the youngest Bond, having been 28 years old when he started filming On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).Rouse is best known for his role as Ollie Chadwyck-Healey in The Crown Season 6, and as Charlie Bucket in Sam Mendes’ stage adaptation of the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now, he’s set to enter the world of espionage in the first dramatization of Higson’s 007 novel.Credit: Inside the MagicRelated: Female 007 Arriving This Year, Popular Actress Comments on Playing James BondWhen it came to auditions, writer/director Barnaby Edwards said he “was the best of the best.”“When you’re looking for someone to portray the icon that is Bond, you’ve got to get it right, so we cast the net wide,” he continued. “I listened to audio auditions from over 500 young hopefuls, from which we selected 12 to bring into studio and put through their paces. We had some truly wonderful Bonds on that day – some famous, some unknown – but Isaac was the best of the best.“His vision of Bond chimed so precisely with that of [Ian] Fleming and [Charlie] Higson. He was the Bond of the books: tough but vulnerable, intelligent, witty, loyal, with a keen sense of justice and a strong dislike of bullies. Isaac is also a great leading man to work with. I genuinely cannot imagine a better actor to play Young Bond. It was very much a case of nobody does it better.”