Few franchises have lasted as long as the Mission: Impossible franchise, but over 20 years after Tom Cruise led the first cinematic outing based on the 1960s TV series, the series is still going strong, with the sixth movie beginning production soon. While Mission: Impossible 6 hasn't released any official plot details to the public yet, the blockbuster has slowly been recruiting actors to this latest adventure, and now all of the main cast has finally been officially announced.
Our own Eric Eisenberg was on hand at CinemaCon when the Mission: Impossible 6 presentation announced that a lot of familiar folks would be co-starring alongside Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt come next year. Among the returning faces in the sixth installment will be Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust, Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell (who is the only other actor besides Cruise to appear in all of these movies), Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, Alec Baldwin as Alan Hunley and Sean Harris as Solomon Lane. With the exception of Lane, all of these individuals are Ethan's allies in one way or another, so bringing them back makes sense. As for Mr. Lane, the former head of The Syndicate, he was last seen in Rogue Nation being taken into IMF custody, so it will be interesting to see how he is involved in the sixth movie, be it as an antagonist again (the likelier possibility) or being coerced into assisting the main agents.
One notable absentee from the group is Jeremy Renner, who played William Brandt in Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation. No reason was given for why Renner will not be part of the Mission: Impossible 6 cast, but since he is currently wielding the bow and arrow again as Hawkeye in the back-to-back Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 shoot, one can surmise that his Marvel duties got in the way. Assuming that Renner isn't able to sneak away to secretly cameo in Mission: Impossible 6, hopefully the movie will address what happened to Brandt, whether he was killed in the line of duty, transferred elsewhere or some other reason.
As for the new faces, Henry Cavill, Sian Brooke and Vanessa Kirby are all coming aboard, although their characters haven't been identified yet. Along with casting information, it was also mentioned that Mission: Impossible 6 shooting will take place in London, Paris, India and New Zealand. They will also shoot in IMAX 3D, which is fitting for a movie that contains so much action and thrills, and will certain make the crazy sequence Tom Cruise has been practicing for over a year look even more insane.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible 6 hits theaters on July 27, 2018. Let us know what you think of the cast lineup in the comments below.
