Tom Cruise and the Mission: Impossible movies – the two are synonymous, and for good reason.
The American actor is not just the star of the eight instalments that started in 1996, but he has creative and financial authority over them too.
Other actors act as producers on franchise films. Vin Diesel, for example, has some creative control over the Fast & Furious series (2001 to present). So does Ryan Reynolds over the Deadpool trilogy (2016 to present). But neither has the power that Cruise wields, nor have they held it for as long.
Cruise has a say in who gets hired as director. He helps craft the stunts, which he performs himself. He decides on the films’ release schedule and budgets because his production company co-finances them.
In a leaked video from 2021, he was caught berating crew members who broke Covid-19 social distancing rules on the set of Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) because, naturally, he is in charge of that, too.
More importantly, he has guided how his character, the operative Ethan Hunt, has changed over the years. Cruise’s control over the screenwriters and casting has determined who snags the job and which characters live to see another film.
Cruise and American director Christopher McQuarrie have said The Final Reckoning – which is showing in Singapore cinemas – is the last movie in the current franchise.
If it does well at the box office, making the brand too valuable to keep in deep freeze, Cruise might return – but on a sporadic schedule, the same way Harrison Ford keeps coming back as Indiana Jones.
But the Hollywood megastar, now aged 62, will most likely not be doing his own stunts should he appear in a sequel, reboot or spin-off. Unless he breaks his rule about using stuntmen, he will have to play a more sedate Ethan Hunt – one that does not walk on airplane wings or ride motorcycles off mountain cliffs.
Solo hero then, visionary leader now: The evolution of Ethan Hunt
When film studio Paramount Pictures rebooted the 1960s Mission: Impossible television series as a movie, it had to create a starring role suitable for Cruise, who was then among Hollywood’s most sought-after leading men.
Ethan Hunt was born. He was a singular hero, a character that never existed in the teamwork-focused show that first aired from 1966 to 1973, with a revival from 1988 to 1990.
The first Mission: Impossible film in 1996 kept some elements from its small-screen source material. There wasthe iconic theme music by Argentine-American composer Lalo Schifrin, the use of masks and disguises, high-tech gadgets and the “this message will self-destruct” recording that kicks off each mission.
Also retained was the idea of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), the team carrying out the espionage. But that was all that Cruise and original director Brian De Palma kept.
With Hunt’s team members killed off early in the story, he would later recruit hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), a friend who would have a role in every film, except for Ghost Protocol (2011), where he appeared in a brief cameo.
However, Hunt would battle the villains mostly alone, by dangling on wires in the iconic Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) vault heist, or by clinging to the roof of the Channel Tunnel train, pursued by a helicopter. Hunt the clever and resourceful action hero was born.
In Mission: Impossible II (2000), directed by Hong Kong veteran John Woo using cinematic techniques that made him famous, Hunt became a full-fledged action hero – confident, swaggering and facing a flamboyantly evil villain in Ambrose (Dougray Scott).
The motorcycle battle on the beach showcased the change: Skills in spycraft and suspense were traded for slow-motion displays of martial arts prowess and the ability to wield a gun.
Under director J.J. Abrams, Mission: Impossible III (2006) pulled Huntin a different direction. Hehas a fiancee, Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan), and relies more on his team, which now includes tech expert Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg).
Benji provides more than just comic relief with his quips and one-liners. By expressing amazement at Hunt’s outlandish stunts, then relief when Hunt scrapes through, he is the audience’s relatable point of view.
Ghost Protocol marked Hunt’s transition to full-time team leader. Though he still carries out his action-hero activities solo, such as free-climbing the walls of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, team members Benji, Luther, intelligence analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and IMF agent Jane Carter (Paula Patton) provide crucial support.
Because the IMF is no longer recognised as a legitimate force, Hunt needs his team more than ever. The individual members now carry out side missions without Hunt, a trend that will continue in the coming films.
In Rogue Nation (2015), Hunt and his team work outside the system, pursued by the CIA. He is now the team’s sole guiding force, not just in tactics, but also in morality. The emotional bond they share with him that began in Ghost Protocol is now fully cemented.
In a voice-over narrated by CIA chief Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), Hunt is shown to be at the apex of his powers – he has transcended human boundaries and has become a myth.
“Ethan Hunt is immune to countermeasures. There is no secret he cannot extract, no security he cannot breach. He is a ghost,” says Hunley.
Rogue Nation also marks the entry of McQuarrie. He will be the first to helm more than one Mission: Impossible movie after Cruise brings him back for all subsequent projects.
Fallout (2018) – the one with the viral clip of the intense toilet fight scene between Hunt, CIA assassin August Walker (Henry Cavill) and a villain played by Chinese actor and stuntman Liang Yang – further positions Hunt as a leader who never puts the mission above the lives of his friends. He even lets a mission fail to not endanger Luther’s life.
By the time Dead Reckoning Part One rolls around, the franchise’s signature elements are in place. There are the suspense-driven action sequences, the team contributions and side quests.
And as in Fallout, Hunt is faced with the classic trolley problem. Should he save the life of a team member, or stick with the mission and save the world?
While in Venice, the pickpocket-turned-operative Grace (Hayley Atwell) is in danger. Hunt drops everything to save her, forgoing the key that will allow him to neutralise the Entity, the artificial intelligence taking over the world’s computer systems.
By the release of The Final Reckoning in May 2025 – possibly Cruise’s final outing as Hunt – Cruise and McQuarrie have nailed the formula: Have Hunt’s back, and he will have yours, even if it means failing the mission.
In Mission: Impossible, he was the loner – by circumstance and by choice, because getting close to anyone could make that person a target. By The Final Reckoning, he is no longer alone – he has found a family.
The women of Mission: Impossible past and present
Just when the Mission: Impossible franchise was hitting its stride as a series with memorable recurring femme fatale characters, it now looks as if it might be winding up in its current form.Here is a look at those who rotated in and out of Hunt’s orbit, and how they reflect the times they lived in.
Claire Phelps in Mission: Impossible
The first instalment sought to fuse the spy thriller with the action movie, and it worked. Helped by Cruise’s star power and De Palma’s direction, it earned more than US$457 million globally.
Claire, played by French actress Emmanuelle Beart, is the archetypal spy movie temptress – exotically European, beautiful and, ultimately, untrustworthy.
She is the wife of Hunt’s boss, IMF chief Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), a woman who was at first Hunt’s ally, but later betrays him. For her sins, she is killed by her husband in the film’s finale.
Nyah Nordoff-Hall in Mission: Impossible II
Like Claire, Nyah (British actress Thandiwe Newton) serves as eye candy and a disposable plot device, placed in the story mainly todisplay an aspect of Hunt’s character.
Her fate in the film, helmed by Woo – a film-maker known for his “heroic bloodshed” films – is to be the tragic heroine, put there to raise the emotional stakes for Hunt.
The thief-turned-ally falls for him and they share love scenes, before she sacrifices herself by injecting herself with a deadly virus to stop it from being used as a weapon.
Zhen Lei in Mission: Impossible III
Lei, played by American actress Maggie Q, is the first female character who is a full IMF agent, on equal standing with the men. She marks a shift in the franchise – she is not smitten by Hunt, nor is she a tragic figure. She is a cool professional who does her job of infiltration and rescue flawlessly, while looking good doing it.
She does not die at the end, but the threequel marks her first and last appearance, making her yet another piece ofexotic-looking here-today-gone-tomorrow eye candy.
Julia Meade in Mission: Impossible III
With the introduction of Hunt’s fiancee Julia, played by American actress Monaghan, the franchise at last brings in a female character who lasts for longer than one movie.
While her role is more substantial – she is a nurse who knows nothing about Hunt’s clandestine activities – she also becomes a trope after she is kidnapped by the villain Owen Davian (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman).
She is the classic innocent partner of the good guy who suffers the consequences of his choices. She adds depth to Hunt’s character, showing the sacrifices he must make to keep the world safe.
Julia makes a brief appearance at the end of Ghost Protocol (2011), revealing that she is alive and living life in peace, without Hunt.
She reappears in Fallout (2018), when she has her life and her hospital put in danger by Walker’s nuclear bomb plan.
Hunt looks at her wistfully – she represents an alternate universe he might have lived in had he not chosen the path of espionage. She also symbolises an innocent world filled with people blissfully unaware of the sacrifices he and his team have made to keep them safe.
Jane Carterin Ghost Protocol
Unlike Maggie Q’s Lei, American actress Paula Patton’s Carter is an IMF agent with a backstory.
She is the classic vengeful widow. In an early scene, her romantic partner and fellow agent Trevor Hanaway (Josh Holloway) is murdered by French assassin Sabine Moreau (French actress Lea Seydoux), and Carter is out to settle scores.
Carter is smart and a skilled fighter, but her story arc closes after her showdown with Moreau. The agent gets her revenge, then disappears from the franchise.
Director Brad Bird later said that scheduling conflicts stopped Patton from returning for Rogue Nation (2015).
Ilsa Faust in Rogue Nation
Faust, played by Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson, represents a new direction in the franchise. She is a competent operative who lives to fight another day in Fallout (2018) and Dead Reckoning Part One (2023).
She is a British operative working for the MI6 intelligence agency who becomes an ally of Hunt and his team, but on her own terms. In Fallout, despite some romantic tension, she and Hunt never become entangled. They respect and trust each other’s motives and skills.
But in Dead Reckoning, the fan favourite is felled by the villain Gabriel (Esai Morales). The emotional stakes for a comeuppance for him are raised by her death, but Hunt is driven to chase him down because he has lost a cherished friend and equal.
Grace in Dead Reckoning Part One
Grace, played by British actress Hayley Atwell, slipped into the franchise as a pickpocket and thief in Dead Reckoning. Like Faust, she is not an IMF agent. Also, like Faust, she begins working with Hunt’s team because their goals are aligned. Faust, however, has a moral code, while Grace has no ideology – the master criminal works for herself.
She does become more trustworthy and competent by the end of the film, so that by the start of The Final Reckoning, she is on an equal footing with Benji and Luther.
Her introduction late in the franchise and her significant role in the last two films have sparked rumours that Grace will be a Mission: Impossible main character should the franchise get a prequel or spin-off.
- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is showing in Singapore cinemas.
How Tom Cruise kept the final Mission: Impossible film alive for 7 years through pandemic, strikes At The Movies: Ethan Hunt’s last Mission? The Final Reckoning delivers thrills amid nostalgia
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