Iconic rock star lands new role as ‘magnetic’ James Bond villain

007: First Light is a blockbuster new video game on the Xbox and PS5 and it’s all-star cast just landed an iconic new pirate king villain in music hitmaker Lenny Kravitz

Rock star Lenny Kravitz is the next big Bond villain – playing a pirate king called Bawma.

The Are You Gonna Go My Way hitmaker, 61, has joined a blockbuster new video game called 007 First Light as its main baddie.

The lifelike PS5 and Xbox action title uses Lenny’s face and reimagines him in graphics as a “magnetic and unpredictable” arms dealer who’s hell-bent on destroying spy hero James Bond.

Delighted Lenny, in his first major video game acting role, said: “The Bond franchise has such an incredible legacy in video games, so to step into it with a brand-new character like Bawma is amazing.

“He’s magnetic and unpredictable, there’s danger in him, but also heart and purpose.

“He’s not just a man with power; he is a man who has to fight for every inch of it.

“Bringing that energy into 007’s world felt incredible.”

A trailer shows an evil looking Lenry taunting Bond with a big baddie speech about how he built Africa’s largest black-market arms hub of Aleph while a tied-up 007 dangles over a pit of crocodiles.

Bawma tells his hungry crocs: “Easy girls, plenty of meat for everyone.”

Game developer IO Interactive said of Bawma, a brand new villain in the Bond franchise: “Bawma is the enigmatic leader of Aleph, a vast black-market arms network operating across the Western hemisphere.

“By 17, he had risen through the ranks of modern piracy, transforming an abandoned ship graveyard in Mauritania into the foundation of his empire.”

The game hits stores in March and is a third-person action-adventure game that blends stealth play with fighting and shooting mechanics.

It features a fully original, re-imagined origin story of a young James Bond.

Other actors signed up to star in the title include Walking Dead star Lennie James as John Greenway, a mentor to the young spy, and Crazy Rich Asians actress Gemma Chan as Dr Selina Tan, who works at MI6 and played a “critical role” in helping James Bond earn his 00 status.

Irish actor Patrick Gibson plays Bond, who has starred in TV series Dexter, is making his video game debut as the voice and likeness of James Bond. In the absence of a 007 actor on the big screen, he’s the incumbent 007 for the moment.

Hakan Abrak, of game maker IO, said: “Lenny brings an extraordinary presence to 007 First Light.

“He is a one-of-a-kind performer, with unbelievable charisma, who fits perfectly with the character of Bawma.

“He captured exactly what we envisioned: a formidable man who commands both fear and loyalty, which will have a profound impact on Bond’s journey into the world of espionage.”