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Summary
It looks like Tom Cruise’s days of running, jumping, and flying are coming to an end in theMission: Impossiblefranchise. The eighth installment, titledMission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, will inevitably seek the best and most heartfelt way to bid farewell to Ethan Hunt, but it risks repeating a mistake from the most recent James Bond film,No Time To Die.
Even thoughMission: Impossiblehas been around since 1966 when it first premiered as a TV series, it’s Tom Cruise who breathed new life into it and made it the franchise it is today. For nearly 30 years, the superstar has taken on seemingly impossible missions – should he choose to accept them – but it looks like this may be the end of the road for him. So, how exactly shouldthe IMF agentride off into the sunset? Certainly, not likeDaniel Craig’s James Bond.
Ethan Hunt Shouldn’t Follow James Bond’s Final Act
As a film, there’s nothing particularly disturbing about howNo Time To Dieended. Daniel Craig’s final outing as the MI6 spy performed well at the box office, and critics responded positively. The film’s climax worked on some levels, but was a major letdown in one key aspect: allowing James Bond to die for the first time in the character’s six-decade history.Director Cary Joji Fukunagamay have intended to close the Daniel Craig era on a bittersweet note to honor the actor, but it simply doesn’t sit well in the long run.
This is exactly what Christopher McQuarrie should avoid at all costs in theupcomingMission: Impossible 8. The likelihood of this ending is even greater here than in the James Bond series. The British secret agent has been portrayed by several legendary actors, includingSean Connery, Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan before Daniel Craig. In contrast, there was, is, and (hopefully) always will be only one Ethan Hunt – and that’s Tom Cruise. So, it’s crucial for the writers not to get carried away and kill off the character for the sake of an emotional ending.
Survival DefinesMission: ImpossibleAnd Ethan Hunt’s Legacy
But it’s not a cardinal sin for an iconic character to die at the end of a film, series, or franchise. ImagineAvengers: Endgamewithout Tony Starksacrificing himself to save the universe. On that note, Ethan Hunt is also a kind of superhero; minus the superpowers, of course. So, what makes the case against letting him die to save the world or just his loved ones? After all, he comes face-to-face with death in every single movie, managing to make it out alive so often that fans often joke his missions are, in fact, possible.
These last-minute,death-defying escapadesare what define the character. If it were truly just plot armor, audiences would have grown tired of it by now, and the franchise would have faded away. But Ethan Hunt genuinely pushes things to the limit and accomplishes the mission, especially when it feels like all hope is lost. So, if the finalMission: Impossiblesimply lets death get the better of him just to wrap things up, it would diminish the character’s legacy.
Sacrificing Ethan Hunt’s Life Would Be A Huge Mistake
There’s another layer to this concern about mimickingNo Time To Die’sclimax, especially considering why and how James Bond meets his end. Toward the film’s conclusion,Rami Malek’s Lyutsifer Safinshoots Bond and infects him with a nanobot vial designed to kill Léa Seydoux’s Dr. Swann and her daughter Mathilde. Bond decides to stay behind on the island, sacrificing himself to ensure Swann and Mathilde’s safety. The film turns the emotional dials up a notch when Bond learns from Swanna that Mathilde is, in fact, his biological daughter.
Is this a fitting farewell toDaniel Craig’s Bond? Yes. Does the ending jerk tears? Perhaps. But it’s clearly not a 007-worthy climax. Anthony Horowitz, one of the authors of the James Bond novels, strongly agrees with this sentiment. In a2022 interview withThe Times, the author shared:
I didn’t do it because, first of all, I think it would be impertinent of me to kill a character that I hadn’t created, and secondly Bond shouldn’t die, Bond is for ever. I was sad they did. But it was their decision. I wouldn’t have done it. But that’s only because… I just think that Bond belongs to everybody.
Horowitz’s thoughts on Bond echo the concerns surrounding Ethan Hunt’s fate inMission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. If the writers choose to take the same route asNo Time To Die, and allow Tom Cruise’s character to sacrifice himself by choice, it would make for a disappointing ending. Worse still, if he doesn’t do it for the greater good but instead, to protect a new love interest, like Hayley Atwell’s Grace, it would undermine everything the previoussevenMission: Impossiblefilmshave built. But as fans, let’s honor Ethan Hunt’s final fourth-wall-breaking request from the trailer and “trust him, one last time.”
