Paramount’s ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie franchise has been around since the 90s, and has gone through many changes. One thing that hasn’t changed is it being anchored by Tom Cruise. Outside of that, there has been a revolving door of talent that has joined him in saving the world. The newest cast member of the untitled seventh and eighth films is ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ star Pom Klementieff.
Writer-Director Christopher McQuarrie, who has been with the franchise since the fifth installment, announced the news via Twitter:
https://twitter.com/chrismcquarrie/status/1196843897407909890
Shortly after that, Klementieff confirmed the news:
Mischief: Accepted https://t.co/faRvtIL0QQ
— Pom Klementieff (@PomKlementieff) November 19, 2019
Her use of “Mischief” instead of “Mission” further lends to the belief that she might be playing a villain after McQuarrie’s “femme fatale” comment. Pom Klementieff isn’t the first MCU alum to join the two sequels, which will be filmed back to back. ‘Captain America’ and ‘Agent Carter’ star Hayley Atwell is also part of the cast.
The franchise used to have a revolving door of directors as well, but when McQuarrie hopped aboard in 2015 for ‘Rogue Nation,’ he stayed. That is why 2018’s ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ was the first truly “direct” sequel. Each one had a bit of connective tissue, but ‘Fallout’ was the first one where audiences needed knowledge of the prior story to fully enjoy.
Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson are back for these sequels, and franchise staples Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames are expected to return as well. The ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise has steadily stepped up the action in every installment. ‘Fallout’ offered things never seen in a movie before, which is hard to do now days. McQuarrie, Cruise, and the rest of the cast definitely have their work cut out for them. By the time these sequels are released, the movie franchise will have spanned four (!) decades, all anchored by the same star. That is almost impossible to do.
Mission: Impossible 7 hits theaters July 23, 2021.
Mission: Impossible 8 hits theaters August 5, 2022.
Source: Christopher McQuarrie