Mission: Impossible Director Confirms Returning Characters and Secret Casting for 7th and 8th Movies

The Mission: Impossible franchise is filming parts 7 & 8 back-to-back, with director Christopher McQuarrie returning for his third and fourth installments of the franchise. These next two Mission: Impossible films are expected to be the finale for Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt. Naturally, it shouldn't be a surprise that Cruise's final run (literally and figuratively) would involve a whole bunch of his co-stars making some return appearances. Now Christopher McQuarrie has been teasing just which returning characters we will see in Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 - and even some possible new characters that will be joining the franchise!

Christopher McQuarrie was a special guest for the 100th episode of Mission: Impossible podcast, Light the Fuse, and he was joined by Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 returning cast member Simon Pegg (Benjy), as well as new cast member, Hayley Atwell (Avengers: Endgame, Agent Carter). During that discussion, McQuarrie confirmed that Ving Rhames will finish his streak of appearing in every installment alongside Cruise, and that the two femme fatales of McQuarrie's arc in the franchise - Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) and White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) - will be back, as well.

The juiciest tease that Chris McQuarrie had for fans was that there's a secret cast member who will be appearing in the film(s), and that it's so top-secret that a lot of the cast members don't even know who it is. Can't wait to see that treat unwrapped. There were also some nice teases of who Hayley Atwell is playing. Her true allegiances are being kept vague - to the point that McQuarrie hinted the character arc may still be in flux. Here's what Atwell had to say:

"There's ambiguity…the interesting thing we're exploring is her resistance to a situation she finds herself in," Atwell said. "How she starts off, where she becomes. The journey of what she comes into and what is asked of her and potentially where she ends up."

Mission: Impossible 7 also stars Pom Klementieff, Nicholas Hoult, Shea Whigham, the return of Henry Czerny (as Agent Kittridge) - and more. It's been an interesting shift to see the Mission: Impossible franchise settle into a rhythm under one creative vision like Christopher McQuarrie's, and the more serialized storyline he's been weaving together since Mission: Impossible - Rouge Nation. Although, with the level of stunts that McQuarrie and Cruise have pulled off so far, Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 are going to have to pull some truly crazy stunts to up the ante.

Thanks to coronavirus pandemic delays, Mission: Impossible 7 now hits on November 19, 2021, and Mission: Impossible 8 arrives the next year on November 4, 2022.