MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE Star Jeremy Renner Left Franchise After Clashing With Director Over Plans To Kill Brandt

Hawkeye star Jeremy Renner has reflected on his time in the Mission: Impossible franchise, denying claims he was going to take over from Tom Cruise and why he really refused to return in 2018's Fallout...

By JoshWilding - Jun 04, 2024 08:06 AM EST

Filed Under: Mission: Impossible

Jeremy Renner starred in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol in 2011 and later returned for 2015's Rogue Nation. After that, his character - IMF agent William Brandt - exited the long-running action series, though Renner was indeed asked back for Mission: Impossible - Fallout in 2018.

Filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie only wanted him on set for a week, though...so he could kill off Brandt!

"I remember they tried to bring me over for a week so they could kill my character, and I was like, 'No, you don’t get to do that. You’re not going to drag me over there and just kill my character,' like get out of here!" Renner recently told Josh Horowitz (via ActioNewz.com). "If you’re going to do this and you’re going to use my character, you’re going to do it right."

"I yelled at [director Christopher McQuarrie]," the actor added with a laugh. "Dude, you’re not going to do this to me like that; you’re not going to do me wrong."

We'd eventually learn that Brandt had retired from fieldwork and, heading into the Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning sequel, it's unclear (and unlikely) that Renner will reprise the role there.

Elsewhere in the conversation, he also denied the long-held belief that he was being lined up to take over the franchise from Ethan Hunt actor Tom Cruise.

"No, it was always Tom’s show, that would be a Tom decision, if he ever wanted to change that narrative," Renner confirmed. "And as he’s maturing as an actor, he kinda wants to hold on, he’s doing ‘Top Gun’ again, right? He’s rebooting that, and let’s [lean] into the things in his life that he’s comfortable with now...the guy’s a beast and works harder than anyone I know."

Despite clashing with McQuarrie over plans to kill his character, Renner also recently revealed he would be open to starring in another Mission: Impossible movie (assuming Brandt gets to live, of course).

"I was supposed to do more with them," he said. "I love those guys. I love Tom so much. We had so much fun, and I love that character a lot. It requires a lot of time away. It’s all in London. I had to go be a dad. It just wasn’t gonna work out then."

"Maybe now that my daughter is older that could happen. I’d always jump into a ‘Mission: Impossible’ anytime and back into Brandt. It’s great."

Only time will tell what the future holds in store for Renner and Mission: Impossible, but you can check out the full interview in the player below.

HAWKEYE Star Jeremy Renner Explains Why He Chose To Exit The MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE Franchise

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18 Comments

harryba11zack - 6/4/2024, 8:13 AM

yes.......this was reported 100 years ago.......come back to current year you phucking dinosaur

HashTagSwagg - 6/4/2024, 8:19 AM

News just in, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are rumoured to be in talks to appear in Spider-man: No Way Home.
There were reportedly set leaks of Garfield on set wearing the suit but fans will be sad to hear that Garfield himself just recently confirmed that those photo's were photoshoped.

IAmAHoot - 6/4/2024, 8:28 AM

Eh, it'd have been kind of cheap to bring him back just for that. My guess would have been the opening scene, with him taking the place of Luther (sans him wearing a bulletproof vest). Or actually, scratch that, he'd likely have filled Baldwin's role, which was similar enough to his anyway by that point in retiring from field work.

Blergh - 6/4/2024, 8:32 AM

I understand not wanting to come back just to die. That’s kinda weak, leaving the door open for a return is much better. Especially since there have been multiple team members who “just disappeared”. Could be Renner is chilling on a farm upstate with Maggie Q, Jonathan Rhys Myers and that Aussie guy from MI2 while being taken care of by farmers Hopkins & Fishburne.

And once Cruise is genuinely retired they can bring any of them back if they decide to return the franchise to its episodic TV roots. Could see Renner being the boss of a new IMF Team of a streaming show .

FireandBlood - 6/4/2024, 8:35 AM

Basically the same they just did to Rebecca Ferguson’s character

TheLobster - 6/4/2024, 10:42 AM

@FireandBlood - biggest mistake they made doing that too. I’m still pissed about it.

FireandBlood - 6/4/2024, 11:00 AM

@TheLobster - Lowkey ruined the movie for me, ngl

TheLobster - 6/4/2024, 5:47 PM

@FireandBlood - honestly? Same. Dead Reckoning was the weakest film in the franchise since the second film if you ask me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Still good but nowhere near the genius of Rogue Nation or Fallout.

TheMetaMan - 6/4/2024, 8:44 AM

The character of Brandt was one of the best things about Ghost Protocol amongst other great things but i felt he’s wasted in Rogue nation. He didn’t have much to do. I’m glad he declined the chance to return just so they could kill him off. I also remember talk about his character taking over after Tom. I think the studio saw what happened with Renner briefly replacing Matt Damon in the Bourne franchise and look how that turned out lol.

TheVisionary25 - 6/4/2024, 9:15 AM

@TheMetaMan - while he didn’t have as much to do in Rogue Nation as he did Ghost Protocol , I still enjoyed the material he had such as his scenes in the committee and this interaction still cracks me up…

Also I didn’t care for his Bourne film but I wouldn’t say it was his fault.

TheVisionary25 - 6/4/2024, 9:13 AM

Well , I can understand him not returning then even more aside from wanting to be with his young daughter at the time in the midst of a tumultuous divorce…

I’m also assuming that he was gonna take the place of Alec Baldwin’s Hunley since I could easily have seen Brandt do those things in Fallout.

Anyway , seems like there isn’t any animosity there from his side atleast so I do hope we see Brandt again sooner or later since I enjoyed the character & his dynamic with the team.

S8R8M - 6/4/2024, 10:31 AM

Oh he had gone back to his original story.

lazlodaytona - 6/4/2024, 11:05 AM

I really like Jeremy a lot. He's in my favorite Angel tv series season 1 episode 11 entitled Somnambulist.

However, this quote? -

"I remember they tried to bring me over for a week so they could kill my character, and I was like, 'No, you don’t get to do that. You’re not going to drag me over there and just kill my character,' like get out of here!"

Dude. It's a freaking fictional character no one will care about or remember yearsater. They gonna pay you along with your hotel, trailer, probably food, and travel accomodations.
Just take the L for ur character. It's not a.very important character. Die with dignity and a pretty good paycheck Holmes. You're lucky to get work after that tragic accident (praise God he is almost fully recovered).

lazlodaytona - 6/4/2024, 11:05 AM

*years later. Stupid missing edit button.

Apophis71 - 6/4/2024, 3:05 PM

@lazlodaytona - Well there is also the bit about RL and not wanting to be away from his kid and all of that too, each on it's own can easily be critiqued...

...but put both together and you have more a case of I have too much going on in my life with custody battles etc to be dragged away from my kid to London for a week or more just for that narrative reason when they can easily kill the character offscreen and/or without him if they want.

If there had been what he percieved a good narrative reason maybe he would have sacrificed a week away from his family for it, if he didn't have the family issues he probably would have flown over and done it, both together tho think fair enough.

Apophis71 - 6/4/2024, 3:09 PM

@lazlodaytona - As an aside, not like Renner needed any acting jobs for the paycheck, was making more flipping houses and all his other stuff than he was from almost all his acting roles up until the accident.

lazlodaytona - 6/5/2024, 4:40 AM

@Apophis71 - understandable

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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE Star Jeremy Renner Left Franchise After Clashing With Director Over Plans To Kill Brandt

Hawkeye star Jeremy Renner has reflected on his time in the Mission: Impossible franchise, denying claims he was going to take over from Tom Cruise and why he really refused to return in 2018's Fallout...

HAWKEYE Star Jeremy Renner Explains Why He Chose To Exit The MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE Franchise

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 8's Budget Continues To Spiral Out Of Control After A Submarine Stunt Goes Wrong