The Mission: Impossible franchise is expanding into the realm of two-parter movies in 2023 with the arrival of Dead Reckoning Part One.
Tom Cruise returns to play Ethan Hunt for the seventh time in the series, but this time it seems like he has the world against him.
Overnight, the first trailer for Dead Reckoning Part One leaked online.
It is not known when the trailer is due to be released, but it is expected to hit cinemas alongside the release Top Gun: Maverick.
The trailer is without a doubt legitimate, as it shows brand new footage of Cruise battling it out in stunning vistas alongside some of the old fan favourite characters.
Simon Pegg returns alongside Cruise, Ving Rhames and Rebecca Ferguson, all of whom make up the crack team of secret agents taking on yet another world-ending disaster.
It also showed off the arrival of some newcomers to the series, including Hayley Atwell.
But most interestingly is the return of one iconic character: Alanna Mitsopolis.
WARNING: Spoilers for the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One trailer follow
Alanna is played by Vanessa Kirby, and made her debut in Mission Impossible – Fallout.
She straddled the line between good guy and bad guy in the previous film, but this time it looks like she’s on the run.
Quick shots showed her running through a train while looking behind her in a panic.
Meanwhile, Cruise’s Hunt can be seen running atop a train – perhaps the same one Alanna is on? – while battling it out with a mysterious enemy.
Before the end of the trailer, the train had been sent off a cliff, prompting Hunt to make a daring escape in the only way Cruise characters know how.
That isn’t the most daunting part of the trailer, however.
An unknown assailant spoke to Hunt through glass, waxing lyrical about an ambiguous end of days.
He said: “You’re fighting to save an ideal that doesn’t exist. Never did. You need to pick a side.”
Shortly after, a man in a gas mask was seen detonating a gas grenade in a room full of suited men.
Judging by this scene and these comments, it seems like Hunt is going to be battling against a corporate evil determined to level out the planet once again.
Hunt is also embarking on some death-defying stunts throughout the trailer – in casual Tom Cruise fashion.
Perhaps the most jaw-dropping moment is the final seconds of the trailer which showed Cruise driving off a cliff on a motorbike and launching off with a parachute.
With so much going on, it’s easy to forget that this two-part Mission: Impossible event could be the beginning of the end for Cruise’s legendary character.
Cruise has been playing Hunt for over 25 years at this point.
The epic scale of a two-part, multi-million dollar film duo hints that big things are coming for the franchise.
Does this mean that the incredible upcoming movies are going to show Hunt being killed off in one final hurrah?
If so, it could echo the final scenes of the latest James Bond movie, No Time To Die, which did the same for Daniel Craig’s version of the character.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One hits cinemas on July 14, 2023.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two hits cinemas on June 28, 2024.
