IO Interactive has discussed the development of John Greenway, the reluctant mentor to James Bond in 007 First Light, played by Lennie James, describing him as a standout character who embodies a deliberately British sense of restraint. Main writer Michael Vogt explained that the mentor figure was central to the game's origin-story structure, with Greenway initially representing duty and obedience to authority in contrast to Bond's more instinctive heroism, before their relationship softens over the course of the story.

Vogt revealed that Greenway's dynamic also shaped the game's antagonist, Sir Nicholas Webb, designed as an "extreme version" of the mentor who distrusts individual human agency altogether. The game builds to a poignant, understated death scene for Greenway, which Vogt said the team worked hard to keep from becoming melodramatic, instead opting for quiet, restrained emotion that he links to British (and, he suggests, Scandinavian) storytelling sensibilities rather than a more expressive American style.