For the longest time, the Mission: Impossible movies were relatively standalone affairs. For the first five entries, each film got a new director. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) would always be the protagonist, but he’d typically get a new crew of Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agents as his allies with each feature. This approach made it easier for a revolving door of directors (John Woo, J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird, etc.) to leave their distinctive stamps on their entries.
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Interestingly, though, the Christopher McQuarrie-directed installments of Mission: Impossible have changed up that status quo. Drastically so. Mission: Impossible – Fallout, for instance, featured a third act hinging on the return of Julia Meade-Hunt (Michelle Monoghan). The next entry, Dead Reckoning, saw Henry Czerny returning as Eugene Kittridge for the first time in nearly 30 years. That same installment also delivered styles of editing and flashbacks reminiscent of Brian de Palma’s original Mission: Impossible. Even as McQuarrie’s entries in this saga ramp up the spectacle and stunt work, his movies have also become increasingly enamored with connecting the dots of previous Mission: Impossible entries. They embrace continuity while earlier entries largely eschewed that concept.
Now, the trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning indicates McQuarrie will continue this trend in an especially deep-cut fashion. A throwaway comedic line from Mission: Impossible is about to get a payoff, 29 years later.
Mission: Impossible’s Original Big Heist
In the original Mission: Impossible, Ethan Hunt breaks into the Pentagon to help clear his name and save the world. Everyone remembers this set piece. They especially recall the visual of Hunt spreading out his arms and legs while inches away from the floor. This same sequence introduced us to CIA Analyst William Donloe (Rolf Saxon), the figure Hunt and his crew must distract to complete their mission. Eventually, they’re able to get him away from his post just long enough for Hunt to complete his thievery, but while exiting through the ceiling, Ethan accidentally drops a knife onto a table below. Moments later, Donloe picks up and inspects the unexpected object, confused about how it got stabbed into his work desk, in a highly-secure CIA vault.
Later on in Mission: Impossible’s second act, in a classic Brian de Palma split-shot, Kittridge is chewing out a CIA subordinate while Donloe lingers in the background. After Kitteridge reiterates the importance of capturing Hunt, he’s asked about Donloe’s fate – after all, Hunt and company broke into the Pentagon and escaped under his watch. Kittridge makes no bones about the severity of Donloe’s punishment, stating, “I want him manning a radar tower in Alaska by the end of the day!” With that, the book was closed on William Donloe, never to be thought of again.
Mission: Impossible 8 Reveals The Fate of William Donloe
Cut to the first Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning trailer. Less than 10 seconds into the trailer, what appears to be a US base in Alaska appears on-screen. Archival footage of Hunt dropping the knife and Donloe picking it up fills the screen. Then, the camera cuts to new The Final Reckoning footage of Hunt holding that same knife. It isn’t just speculation that these trailer moments could lead to Donloe’s return. Rolf Saxon has long been confirmed to reprise William Donloe in Mission: Impossible 8. Yes, it looks like viewers will get to not only see this throwaway Mission: Impossible character again, but also witness what Alaskan outpost he’s been working at. The absolute last Mission: Impossible character anyone expected to see again is about to come back.
Granted, the sudden shift to colder temperatures isn’t a shock for those paying close attention to these final two Mission: Impossible movies. Not only did Dead Reckoning end with the reveal that the critical submarine Sevastopol was trapped in icy confines. The first 2022 trailer for this two-part finale featured a masked figure (presumably Hunt) scrambling underwater beneath a patch of ice. There had never been official confirmation that these IMF exploits would lead everyone to Alaska; however, between those visuals and the long-standing confirmation Saxon was returning as Donloe, it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.
One piece of speculation worth considering, though, is who Donloe could rub shoulders with in The Final Reckoning. The same day he announced Saxon’s return for this Mission: Impossible entry, McQuarrie also revealed that Lucy Tulugarjuk would appear in the feature. His image of Tulugarjuk announcing the news showed the performer in a wintery locale. Given that her character and Donloe are working in snowy confines, not to mention their casting being announced on the same day…are their characters connected in some way? Could they be playing romantic partners or co-workers on this purportedly Alaskan base? It’s worth keeping in mind as fans speculate endlessly over what Donloe’s life will look like decades after Mission: Impossible.
Is Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning the End of the Franchise?
At this point, it looks like The Final Reckoning will probably be the final Mission: Impossible statement. Sure, the cast and crew (including Cruise himself) have said they’d do these movies forever and a day. However, between Dead Reckoning’s box office coming in under expectations, the budgets for these Reckoning movies spinning out of control, and especially Cruise securing a first-look deal with Warner Bros., it’s safe to assume the Mission: Impossible saga is about to go on ice. Consider that likely reality, that makes the prominence of previously one-off characters from the original Mission: Impossible feature in these last stories especially interesting.
Bringing back William Donloe, in its own way, is as sure of a sign as anything that we’re wrapping things up for Ethan Hunt.
Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning has a theatrical release date of May 23, 2025.
