While production on Paramount's Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 is currently on an indefinite hiatus due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, director Chris McQuarrie recently made an appearance on the Light The Fuse podcast to share some interesting intel on what to expect in the highly-anticipated action sequels.
Following some welcome casting news, McQuarrie spoke at length about a mysterious new character set to be played by Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran Hayley Atwell, revealing that her new role is not exactly as clean-cut as Agent Peggy Carter. "In this [film], we've found something really, really great for the core team. What I can tell you is that they then encounter this other destructive force of nature in the form of Hayley."
He continues, “There’s ambiguity…the interesting thing we’re exploring is her resistance to a situation she finds herself in. How she starts off, where she becomes. The journey of what she comes into and what is asked of her and potentially where she ends up.”
Atwell was spotted earlier this year filming a high-speed car chase with franchise lead Tom Cruise in England, leading us to believe that she would be playing a new member of his team, but these comments may be our first indication that her character could have an entirely different agenda that may ultimately deviate from what Ethan Hunt and company are trying to accomplish. However, it also seems as though her electric chemistry with Cruise is something that McQuarrie is very interested in exploring further.
“For Hayley to exist in a franchise where other women had come and made statements, we said ‘well it can’t be like that.’ We don’t want Hayley to be a repeat of any character that’s come before. What’s left? What’s unique and what’s new? We wrote a scene about what we imagined the spark of that character to be, and that’s what Hayley came in and read. What we discovered there is this energy that Hayley had, specifically an energy with Tom. It’s not a vibe, it’s literally a vibration. You felt it and you were like, ‘I don’t know what to make of this person.’”
As far as we know, Atwell is not playing the film's villain - a role rumored to be occupied by fellow franchise newcomer Nicholas Hoult - but it sure sounds like McQuarrie and Cruise have big things planned for whoever she is playing, and a potential two-part villain origin story is definitely something they haven't done before.
McQuarrie also commended Atwell's impeccable work ethic and teased some truly epic action to come as the actress tackles her most physically demanding role to date. “It is truly something to see….the work that you’ve done, the dedication you’ve shown, the focus, and quite frankly, your frightening talent with a knife, are all stuff that I’m very, very, very excited for people to see. It’s a very different side of Hayley.”
Atwell briefly spoke on being cast, expressing her appreciation for being given a different challenge to what she's become accustomed to, as in typical Mission fashion, there was no script when she auditioned. "I loved that. It's the complete opposite way of how I usually would work, which is to get a script, to get a character, know where my mark is and have an interpretation of what's on the page."
Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 are headlined by Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick) as IMF ace Ethan Hunt, as well as fellow returning stars Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible - Fallout) as Ilsa Faust, Simon Pegg (Mission: Impossible - Fallout) as Benji Dunn, Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible - Fallout) as Luther Stickell, and Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Fallout) as the White Widow. Newcomers to the storied action franchise include Hayley Atwell (Avengers: Endgame), Pom Klementieff (Avengers: Endgame), Shea Whigham (Joker) and Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: Dark Phoenix), who is rumored to be playing the villain. Henry Czerny (Sharp Objects) has also been confirmed to reprise his role as Eugene Kittridge from the first film.
There is likely more information to come regarding who will make up Ethan Hunt's team for his seventh and eighth adventures, with fans holding out hope that some combination of Jeremy Renner (William Brandt), Angela Bassett (Erica Sloane), Paula Patton (Jane Carter) and/or Maggie Q (Zhen Lei) will also return.
Both sequels are expected to film back-to-back, with Mission: Impossible 7 set to light the fuse in theaters on November 19, 2021, while its sequel, Mission: Impossible 8, will open the following fall on November 4, 2022.