How Fortnite Helps The Mission: Impossible Team Train, According To Simon Pegg

The Mission: Impossible Fallout cast

Whenever we catch up with the Mission: Impossible team for a new thriller, they are being briefed on the latest threat from various foreign entities. But because the Mission movies don't do One Shots (like our friends over at Marvel Studios), we have no clue what the agents on Ethan Hunt's team do in between missions. So, when CinemaBlend traveled to Paris, France recently to cover the red-carpet world premiere of Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible Fallout, we asked Simon Pegg what his field agent, Benji Dunn, does in between assignments. And we learned that he plays Fortnite... and kicks Ethan's ass in the process. Pegg tells us:

Benji studies hard. He trains. He goes home and he plays Minecraft. [Or] Fortnite! Yeah, that's what I play. He plays Fortnite online with Ethan. And he's better -- in Fortnite, he's better at fighting than Ethan. Ethan's had like two kills, max. Benji had a game with, like, 12 kills. He got the Legendary Scar, and he offed a bunch of perps.

Simon Pegg first joined the Mission: Impossible franchise as an analyst back in J.J. Abrams' Mission: Impossible 3, but over the years, he has increased his role to field agent and, eventually, to being a vital member of Ethan Hunt's team. Pegg, in fact, described the previous installment, Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation, as a buddy-road-trip movie for Ethan and Benji. And while this story is darker and edgier, Benji is still right there by Ethan's side as they team with the CIA to take down a new challenger.

Simon Pegg has his tongue planted in his cheek as he describes the fictional skills of his advancing agent. Because after I learned about Benji's Fortnite skills, I asked if there's a particular talent or skill of Benji's that Pegg wants to see explored in a future story, he confessed:

Yes, he has a sex dungeon in his basement. And I just think we should see a bit of that, do you know what I mean?

Hopefully Chris McQuarrie is reading this, and starting to work that sequence in to the seventh chapter of the ongoing saga. Catch Simon Pegg talking with CinemaBlend on the red carpet outside of the Paris world premiere event for Mission: Impossible Fallout.

In Mission: Impossible Fallout, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) chooses his team over his mission and makes a huge mistake, forcing Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames) and the remainder of the IMF to clean up the mess and stop a lingering threat. We recorded a special episode of ReelBlend the day that we interviewed Tom Cruise on the Fallout red carpet, so give this a listen for a spoiler-free discussion about the movie, and the Paris junket:

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We will have a ton of coverage from the Mission: Impossible Fallout junket as we get closer to the movie's release on July 27. You can read our review of Chris McQuarrie's right here. Basically, buy your tickets now. This is not a mission you will want to miss.

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.