Ethan Hunt’s Story Continues: Why ‘Mission: Impossible’ Avoided Its Planned Final Farewell

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning was promoted as the last chapter in Tom Cruise’s long-running action series, leading many to believe that the story would end with Ethan Hunt’s death. Director Christopher McQuarrie explained his decision not to kill off the main character in a recent interview with Empire Magazine.

McQuarrie said, “Everything is on the table. There was a moment in the editing of the final sequence of the movie where Ethan goes spinning into that cloud bank where I thought, ‘If you cut to his grave right now, you’d feel the sacrifice was sufficient. Wow, that’s very, very effective.’” He considered ending the film with Hunt’s death but decided against it. According to McQuarrie, “The idea of a conclusion of a story being the death of that character… they are not one and the same. When you fully tie off the story, the story ceases to be. And that’s not life. Stories go on, whether or not the movies do”.

This approach stands in contrast to the James Bond franchise, which recently shocked audiences by killing off Daniel Craig’s Bond in No Time to Die. McQuarrie chose not to take a similar path with Ethan Hunt, leaving the door open for future stories.

There is no official word on whether Tom Cruise will return as Ethan Hunt. Cruise has not confirmed his plans, but he has hinted to McQuarrie, “We can do better.” The ending of The Final Reckoning did not provide full closure for the character or the series, making it possible that another Mission: Impossible film could still happen.

However, the future of the franchise may depend on the financial performance of recent entries. The last two Mission: Impossible movies had extremely high production costs and failed to meet box office expectations. This will make it difficult for the studio to approve another sequel, even though the series began on a much smaller scale in 1996. And let’s face it, Mr. Cruise isn’t getting any younger.

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