The Future of Action Movies in Hollywood Post-'Mission: Impossible'
A Fresh Take on the Impossible Mission:
After a breathtaking 30-year journey filled with on-screen demises, mind-blowing stunts, and endless action, Ethan Hunt and the Mission: Impossible franchise is near its end with The Final Reckoning. As the curtains draw close, question markers loom large—"what's next?" has been a lingering question that's haunted this chain of films in various forms.
Tom Cruise, the soul of this series, has unequivocally committed himself to these movies. Back in the days, speculations started to swirl when Jeremy Renner was cast as William Brandt in Ghost Protocol. Whispers gave rise to rumors of Renner stepping into the mantle, should Cruise ever choose to bow out from the series. However, those whispers have faded away, and since then, Cruise has had a sidekick on board for each installment, starting from Ghost Protocol and moving forward. These co-stars include Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust (introduced in Rogue Nation), Hayley Atwell’s Grace (Dead Reckoning), and Henry Cavill’s August Walker (Fallout).
Each of these actors, even Cavill until Walker's villain reveal, have been subtly presented as potential candidates to take over from an aging Cruise. They've been introduced to challenge Ethan and received stunning action scenes that make a strong case for their potential stardom. Whatever the writers' intentions were, the possibility of a new protagonist making an appearance feels increasingly likely, regardless of whether it involves them taking the limelight as Ethan pulls off jaw-dropping stunts or sharing the screen for shootouts and fistfights.
In Final Reckoning, Ethan forms his team and splits off to investigate a submarine shipwreck while his team takes on Russian special forces at St. Matthew's Island. A pattern of expansion and reinvention has defined this series, so this setup could be an indicator of how the story might unfold if Cruise is determined to steer these films until his body can't anymore.
On the flip side, Cruise recently secured a deal with Warner Bros. to develop and produce films, including a project with Alejandro González Iñárritu and potentially an Edge of Tomorrow sequel. In a potential turn of events, Paramount could hypothetically keep the Mission: Impossible series alive without Cruise for a couple of films, offering audiences time to miss the original cast while becoming invested in a fresh set of characters. This could create an epic return for Ethan Hunt down the line, providing both Cruise and the studio with a cinematic swansong akin to Top Gun: Maverick.
If that doesn't pan out, we might see a flurry of action spy films in the coming years, mirroring the female-fronted flicks that emerged to fill the void left by an absence of a Black Widow film. The Mission: Impossible, Jason Bourne, and James Bond franchises are among the last of their kind. With such a vacuum, a unique actor or director could seize the opportunity to gain popularity and build their brand.
Interestingly, several actors seem to be embracing the action genre. Dev Patel is busy with his medieval action-thriller The Peasant, Simu Liu eyes the Sleeping Dogs movie, and Florence Pugh urged Disney to let her perform a stunning skyscraper stunt for Thunderbolts, demonstrating the industry's growing appetite for practical action and real thrills.
Will Hollywood let the cat out of the bag and give actors and creatives the freedom to deliver these mind-blowing, tangible experiences? Only time will tell.
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Insights:
- Pom Klementieff as Paris: Klementieff's character, Paris, has been suggested as a potential new lead, providing an exciting twist for the series[1].
- Glen Powell: Originally rumored to be a potential replacement by Tom Cruise himself, Powell denied any involvement[2].
- Jeremy Renner's Character, William Brandt: Speculations about Renner succeeding Cruise could not materialize due to scheduling conflicts and rumors about his character's demise[1][3].
- In the future, the Impossible Mission franchise could introduce a new lead character, as Pom Klementieff's character, Paris, has been suggested for the role.
- The technology of practical action and real thrills in movies has generated interest among actors like Dev Patel, Simu Liu, and Florence Pugh, who are embracing the action genre.
- As the Mission: Impossible series approaches its end, speculations about potential successors to Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt continue, with past rumors involving Jeremy Renner and Glen Powell.
