TheMission: Impossiblefranchise probably just endedwithThe Final Reckoning, leaving us fans revisiting our favorite moments from the franchise, including characters we wish we saw more of. Given the popularity of the series, it’s impossible not to look back at the highlights and wish for more. It’s natural to wantmore running Tom Cruise, more death-defying Tom Cruise, more emotionally-charged Tom Cruise– one can never get enough of Ethan Hunt.
Ethan Hunt is only one of themain characters inMission: Impossible, even though he has more screen time than many characters combined. As much as the main appeal of watchingMission: Impossiblemovies is Ethan’s unwavering willingness to go to any lengths for the people he loves, performing stunts that get more death-defying with each movie, some of the other characters are fan-favorites too. Among them, the most popular is perhapsBenji, who has a dedicated storyline inMission Impossible– The Final Reckoning. However, watching the final film makes one realize some characters didn’t get their due.
8Declan Gormley
Played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Mission: Impossible IIIis the most underrated movie in the franchise, and contains some of the best moments that truly characterize Ethan Hunt and creates the version of the man who resides in our hearts today. Until Christopher McQuarrie took over the franchise as director for the final four movies, the secondary characters were almost always in circulation,except for Ving Rhames' Luther Stickell. So, as with every other aspect, the third film also gave us memorable side characters who deserved more screen time.
While he was less notable due to his limited dialogue and screen time, Jonathan Rhys Meyers brings a fun energy to his character, Declan Gormley. The agent is dedicated and capable, but he also doesn’t shy away from cracking jokes in the middle of infiltrating the Vatican City. He has an easygoing camaraderie with characters he’s never met before, and Meyers' well-played balance of sincerity and hilarity would have been great to see again, considering his tongue-in-cheek dry wit is exactly the kind of humor that works best forMission: Impossible.
7Mission Commander Swanbeck
Played by Sir Anthony Hopkins
Ethan’s handlers have constantly changed, much like most of his team members, but some are more memorable than others. The most memorable is undoubtedly played by Alec Baldwin, who appears in the first twoMission: Impossiblemovies directed by Christopher McQuarrie. Henry Czerny’s Eugene Kittridge is also memorable as Ethan’s boss from the first movie and as a returning character in the last two films of the franchise.
“This is not Mission: Difficult, Mr. Hunt. It’s Mission: Impossible. Difficult should be a walk in the park for you.” - Mission Commander Swanbeck
However, one of Ethan’s handlers barely got any screen time, to the point that his actor went uncredited in the film.Mission: Impossible II’s Mission Commander Swanbeck, played by the one and only Sir Anthony Hopkins, is a memorable screen presence despite being there for barely a couple of minutes in total. He hasone of the most unforgettable lines in the franchise, and one can only wonder how engaging his character would have been if Hopkins had returned to play him or at least been given more scenes inMission: Impossible II.
6Nyah Nordoff-Hall
Played by Thandiwe Newton
Mission: Impossible IIis thedisappointing second film that the franchise bounced back after. But that’s mostly due to the dated dialogue and John Woo’s style, characterized by slow-motion, extravagant gunfights, and exorbitant explosions, which are entirely unsuitable for the franchise. The characters in the film are considerably compelling, especially Ethan Hunt’s partner, Nyah Nordoff-Hall, played by Thandiwe Newton, who shares incredible chemistry with Tom Cruise.
Nyah is an adept thief and a fearless woman who risks her life to save the world and fiercely stands up for herself through her actions, despite being constantly underestimated for being a woman. Sheproves to be a capable partner to Hunt,and even though the films were standalone back then, I wish she had returned at least once more. Ethan and Nyah’s romance, buoyed by Woo’s romantic direction, had untapped potential that went unfulfilled.
5Jane Carter
Played by Paula Patton
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocolgave theMission: Impossiblefranchise its current form, with emphasis on Tom Cruise’s stunts, polished cinematography, a humanized Ethan Hunt who is simultaneously deified, and side characters with more screen time and relevance than ever before. Paula Patton’s Jane Carter is one of Ethan Hunt’s best one-time teammates in the franchise, and she deserved to return for more films.
Carter is a skilled agent with a panache for hand-to-hand combat who is just as impressive with a gun as well. She has softer skills she can use for her missions, too, and she doesn’t pull her punches.Patton has one of the best fight scenes inGhost Protocol, in fact, which proves her comfort with the action genre, even though she has been in very few action movies. Moreover, Jane has an emotional motivation in the film, and despite it ending with Ethan asking her to join him for further missions, she is absent in all the otherMission: Impossiblemovies.
4William Brandt
Played by Jeremy Renner
He is famous today as an action star for portraying Hawkeye in the MCU, but between his short uncredited cameo inThorand his bigger role inThe Avengers, Jeremy Renner joined Tom Cruise for aMission: Impossiblemovie. His character, William Brandt, was written inMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocoloriginallywith the intention of replacing Cruise’s Hunt. Even though that didn’t pan out, which was great for the franchise, Brandt is nonetheless a likable character who deserved more scenes and to return inMission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
He could have been written into at least the last film in the franchise.
Brandt has a few fight scenes inMission: Impossible – Ghost ProtocolandMission: Impossible – Rogue Nationthat prove he belongs in the franchise. His lone stunt in the former, both daring and laced with relatable humor, is one of the film’s highlights. Unfortunately, he is criminally underutilized in the latter film and is never brought back for the other Christopher McQuarrieMission: Impossiblemovies.Jeremy Renner originally leftMission: ImpossibleafterGhost Protocolto focus on his parenting duties, but he could have been written into at least the last film in the franchise.
3Zhen Lei
Played by Maggie Q
BeforeMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, none of the movies gave the secondary characters a significant role in the IMF’s missions when compared to Ethan. While this works in favor of emphasizing Tom Cruise’s spy extraordinaire, it has led to some major missed opportunities. Among them isMaggie Q’s character, Zhen Lei, from J.J. Abrams’Mission: Impossible III.
Zhen is important, but she isn’t a standout character and one gets the feeling that any other agent could have done what she did inMission: Impossible III. That is a terrible waste of Maggie Q’s talents, who is an adept martial artist and should have been given the space to exhibit her superior action skills, including a few hand-to-hand combat sequences. Not only is she underutilized, butMaggie Q also doesn’t return toMission: Impossibleagain, and that only leaves room for speculation about how good a tag team fight alongside Cruise could have been.
2Julia Meade
Played by Michelle Monaghan
The love of Ethan’s life, Julia Meade, is a nurse who has had two close brushes with death due to her connection with Ethan. Firstly, Owen Davian fromMission: Impossible IIIkidnapped her to use Hunt, and secondly, Solomon Lane and John Lark got her to Kashmir where they planned to detonate two nuclear weapons inMission: Impossible – Fallout. Despite lacking the arsenal of skills that IMF agents come with, Julia is not a mere damsel in distress, and she waslikely to return inMission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
Hayley Atwell’s Grace, first introduced inMission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, seemingly becomes Ethan’s new love interest inMission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and it feels wrong that Julia was replaced so easily in not just Ethan’s life, but the franchise itself.
On the contrary, she plays a role in saving Ethan’s life in both movies, especially inMission: Impossible III, where she disables a bomb inside his head and then resuscitates him. She also shows incredible skills with a handgun when using one for the first time ever. A well-written, level-headed female character who can rise to the occasion,she should have appeared inMission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Her connection with Hunt is held dearly by the latter, and it feels like a betrayal of the setup and her return inFalloutthat she’s absent in the last film.
1Luther Stickell
Played by Ving Rhames
It is certainly contentious to claim that the only character besides Ethan Hunt to appear in everyMission: Impossiblemovie didn’t get enough screen time, but there’s truth to the statement. While Luther is present in all the films, and plays an integral role in Ethan’s missions and his life, he gets very limited screen time in every movie.
As the guy in the chair of theMission: Impossiblefranchise, he gets a few moments to show off his magical hacking skills and technical expertise, but he remains underdeveloped as a character until the very end. Luther Stickell undergoes a radical transformation as a person over the course of the eight movies, but his genius should have been given moments to shine beyond mere mentions.
We are told he has accomplished another impossible task, and we just have to accept it.No scenes of Luther at work are ever longer than a few minutes, and the franchise would definitely have benefited from showing that side of him, instead of simply using his character as a humanizing touch in Ethan’s life, although that side of him is developed quite well.
