For months, fans speculated that ‘Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ would do the unthinkable and kill its iconic hero, Ethan Hunt. Director Christopher McQuarrie has now confirmed that while the idea was considered, he ultimately felt it was the wrong move for the story.
McQuarrie revealed that the thought crossed his mind during a pivotal moment in the edit. “There was a moment… where Ethan goes spinning into that cloud bank where I thought, ‘If you cut to his grave right now, you’d feel the sacrifice was sufficient,'” he told Empire.
However, he chose to keep Hunt alive, arguing that a character’s death shouldn’t be the only way to provide a conclusion. “When you fully tie off the story, the story ceases to be. And that’s not life,” McQuarrie explained. “Stories go on, whether or not the movies do.”
This creative choice certainly didn’t hurt the film’s performance. The Final Reckoning shattered franchise records with its massive opening weekend and has since earned over $509 million globally. Tom Cruise’s legendary commitment was also on full display, as he broke a Guinness World Record for performing 16 burning parachute jumps during filming.
The real-world danger of the franchise was highlighted by stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood, who recalled a moment Cruise became trapped underwater. “It wasn’t bad, because Tom can hold his breath for a long time,” Eastwood said. “Before he had even finished being trapped, I was already pulling the thing off him.” It seems that both on and off screen, Ethan Hunt always finds a way to survive.
