Is Mission: Impossible coming to an end?

Mission: Impossible is returning with the eighth film in the action film franchise, and it could well be the end of the road for Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt because it's titled The Final Reckoning.

Does the word "final" suggest that the franchise is coming to an end? Fans certainly think so after spotting multiple nods to the previous films in the first trailer for the new movie. The new film follows on from the events of the ninth film, Dead Reckoning, where Hunt and the team faced their most dangerous enemy yet — sentient AI.

With the clock ticking down to defeat their powerful new enemy the Entity, Hunt and co. must find the sunken submarine Sevastopol in order to find the one way to stop it before it is too late. Here is what we know about the film franchise and its future.

Is Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning the last film in the franchise?

The trailer for The Final Reckoning certainly suggests that it will be the final film in the franchise, with Hunt telling his team to help him "one last time".

It is also noteworthy that Angela Bassett returns as Erika Sloane, who now appears to be the President of the United States rather than the head of the CIA. While Mission: Impossible III also gets a nod with a brief glimpse of the Rabbit's Foot, the biological hazard that was at the centre of that story.

Watch the Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning trailer:

Will taking these trips down memory lane mean that Cruise is ready to say goodbye to Hunt forever? Variety reported back in February 2022 that the two films —Dead Reckoning and Final Reckoning— would "serve as a sendoff" for Hunt, and would be a "culmination of the entire series".

However, comments from Cruise and McQuarrie suggest that won't actually be the case. At the Australian premiere for Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Cruise remarked how he'd love to continue playing the character for years to come.

Per the Sydney Morning Herald he said of the Indiana Jones franchise: "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."

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Christopher McQuarrie also told Fandango in June 2023 that the next movie in the franchise wouldn't necessarily be the end of the road for Hunt, and that there are "'ideas for what comes next".

So what can we take away from this? It means that anything is possible with the Mission: Impossible franchise. The trailer and new movie title suggests that the next film will be the last but if Cruise and McQuarrie are keen to return then they will.

Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning premieres in UK cinemas on 21 May, 2025.