It feels like we’ve been speculating about James Bond for years at this point. Maybe we have. We know exactly what we expect from 007 by now: he drinks Martinis (shaken, not stirred); he drives Aston Martins; and he loves a quip or two. The identity of the newest Bond, though, has been up in the air for some time. However, we have just discovered at long-last who the newest actor to wield that License to Kill will be. The next James Bond story is coming — and it’s coming later this year.
Isaac Rouse will play James Bond in Young Bond: SilverFin, with Charlotte McBurney cast as Wilder Lawless. The new audio drama begins releasing in October 2026 and will adapt Charlie Higson’s first Young Bond novel across 16 half-hour episodes, split into two box sets for roughly eight hours of drama. More than 500 actors applied for the role of Bond, with 12 finalists brought in to audition. Writer-director Barnaby Edwards was clearly happy with the final choice, saying, “Nobody does it better.” Nice.
Rouse is known for television projects including The Crown, Get Even, and Genius, while he also played Charlie Bucket in Sam Mendes’ stage adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Mendes, of course, later directed Skyfall and Spectre, so clearly there’s something like kismet at play here.
McBurney joins Rouse in the cast, and she’s got quite the pedigree when it comes to voice acting performances. She’s previously earned a BAFTA nomination for her work on the A Plague Tale video game series and has also appeared in Final Fantasy XVI.
What Is ‘Young Bond: SilverFin’ About?
The story follows James Bond in his teenage years, long before he became the most polished spy in MI6 history or the “sexist, misogynistic dinosaur” that he is so lovingly described as by Judi Dench‘s M in the films. Higson‘s Young Bond books explore Bond’s time at the prestigious Eton College, where he learned how to be a smarmy little git, we assume. The new adaptation comes from Big Finish Productions, which has produced full-cast audio dramas across major franchises for years. Young Bond: SilverFin will be available in collectible pre-order packages ahead of its October launch.
The first Young Bond: SilverFin episodes arrive in October 2026.
via Collider