Since the 1990s, the Mission: Impossible series has blown up to become one of the best action movie franchises in Hollywood. And that’s largely thanks to its lead star Tom Cruise, who portrays Impossible Missions Force (IMF) secret agent Ethan Hunt.
Cruise has been kicking ass and taking names for a whopping seven films, with an eighth movie scheduled for a 2025 release. But as the last film Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning has shown, Tom Cruise isn’t getting any younger.
His age is beginning to show, which brings to mind two questions. One: how many Mission: Impossible movies does Cruise have left in him? And two: when it’s time for him to finally say goodbye to the franchise, should Mission: Impossible continue without its lead star?
Tom Cruise Has Become the Face of Mission: Impossible
For 27 years, Tom Cruise has portrayed field agent and covert operative Ethan Hunt. During that time, the Mission: Impossible franchise has become a huge box office success, thanks to its explosive action sequences, monster budgets, and majestic on-set locations.
But what draws in viewers most is Tom Cruise himself. Not just with his good looks or Hollywood star power, but with the ridiculous, death-defying stunts that Cruise himself performs. Ever since that iconic death drop in the original 1996 movie, the actor has been doing his own stunts. And with each movie, it seems, Cruise keeps upping the ante and pushing his own limits.
Each Mission: Impossible sequel delivers a stunt that’s somehow more heart-pounding and absurd than the last. Like Cruise, these stunts have become synonymous with the franchise — and they’ve paid off in spades. Mission: Impossible is now the 17th-highest-grossing film series of all time, earning over $4 billion globally. And therein lies the problem: the franchise is too much of a cash cow, and will inevitably continue one day without Cruise’s involvement.
The Indiana Jones Problem
Despite this reality, Tom Cruise has no intentions of bidding farewell to the Mission: Impossible franchise just yet. The 61-year-old actor has stated that he wants to appear in this series for as long as he possibly can, and has pointed to Harrison Ford’s depiction of the iconic Indiana Jones when he was 80 years old as inspiration. Cruise said in an interview:
Harrison Ford is a legend. I hope to be still going. I’ve got 20 years to catch up with him. I hope to keep making Mission: Impossible films until I’m his age.
Ford has been playing Jones since 1977’s Raiders of the Lost Ark and as recently as 2023’s Dial of Destiny — that spans an impressive 46 years. Disney has also said that they have no plans to recast Indiana Jones.
But is this really the right approach for Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible? Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was a box office disappointment — and that’s partially because no one wants to see an 80-year action star cracking a whip and fighting bad guys.
The same notion applies to Cruise and Ethan Hunt. The idea of an 80-year-old, or even a 70-year-old, Tom Cruise clinging to the side of a plane just isn’t very appealing. You also can’t help but wonder whether it’s even safe for Cruise to continue performing his own stunts as he grows older. Sure, he’s pulled them all off so far. But is it only a matter of time before Cruise hurts himself while performing one of these death-defying stunts?
The James Bond Solution
So how does the Mission: Impossible franchise continue without Tom Cruise? It’s hard to imagine the series without its lead star. But at one point, it was also hard to imagine James Bond being anyone other than Sean Connery. The legendary Scotsman was our very first 007. He owned the character between 1962 and 1967, and returned sporadically for other movies, spanning a total of 21 years.
When Connery refused to reprise the role for the first time, MGM knew that they couldn’t let James Bond die — there was way too much money at stake. So they brought in a new actor to portray James Bond: Roger Moore. This approach of changing actors to play Bond has become a staple of the franchise, a strategy that producers continue to use today.
And really, it’s been beneficial. This method has kept the character fresh and exciting, and fans love to speculate over who will take on the role next. The James Bond franchise has continued to produce box office hits well beyond the Sean Connery era, no matter whose face is behind 007.
Ethan Hunt could be the American James Bond. He can live on forever, well past Tom Cruise, and can be played by other actors. Of course, whoever came next would undoubtedly have some big shoes to fill. They may even have to perform their own stunts to truly capture the Mission: Impossible magic.
Even still, this is a route that the franchise can easily take to continue its lucrative success and keep the character fresh for audiences. Who knows; maybe one day, we’ll be having debates over who is the best Ethan Hunt in the series.
Introducing a New Main Character
Another possible, and perhaps better, solution is to introduce a new and equally badass protagonist. And in a way, Mission: Impossible has already done this. What most fans don’t realize is that the Mission: Impossible films are based on a 1966 TV series of the same name.
The show’s first season follows IMF secret agent Dan Briggs (Steven Hill). The other six seasons revolve around IMF secret agent Jim Phelps (Peter Graves), who returned in the 1988 sequel series — and in the 1996 film. There, Phelps is played by Jon Voight and becomes a traitor to IMF. He kills his agents, fakes his death, and then frames none other than Ethan Hunt.
The character of Ethan Hunt never appeared in the show. He’s an original character made specifically for the movies. With the 1996 film, Mission: Impossible passed the torch from Jim Phelps to this brand-new character — and it clearly worked. The franchise can easily take this route again when it’s time to pivot away from Cruise’s Ethan Hunt.
Mission: Impossible wouldn’t be the first action movie franchise to do this. The Bourne franchise did this in 2012 when its lead star, Matt Damon, refused to reprise his role as Jason Bourne. Instead, The Bourne Legacy brought in actor Jeremy Renner and introduced a brand-new character, Aaron Cross. And the film was still a box office success, grossing $276.1 million worldwide.
It’s unclear what route Mission: Impossible will take. But as its lead actor continues to age, studio heads will have to seriously consider a future without its lead star.
On the subject of reprising roles, check out this video on why Cruise won’t return to play Jack Reacher:
