There is a very exciting future ahead for the Mission: Impossible franchise. While fans are used to seeing a new installment from the blockbuster series every few years, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie has been cooking up an extreme treat for the next two chapters and has been filming them back-to-back. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 is set to blow our minds in the year 2023, and the direct sequel, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2, will be coming out about 12 months later. Obviously there are a lot of reasons to be excited about the big sequel that is Mission: Impossible 8, and one of them is the fantastic ensemble cast that has been put together.
Featuring a mix of actors who both are and aren’t in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 has brought together a terrific group of stars, and we’ve assembled the list of confirmed names below for your perusal.
Tom Cruise
What, did you expect that Ethan Hunt would die in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1? While we don’t know the details of the plot of Mission: Impossible 7, we do know that the lead character will survive and be back for the sequel. Tom Cruise is one of only two actors who have appeared in every installment of this film franchise, the other being…
Ving Rhames
While Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell only showed up for a cameo at the end of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, his prominent role in the franchise has been stable ever since – with key roles to play in Rogue Nation and Fallout. We don’t know what he’ll be getting up to in Dead Reckoning – Part 1, but we do know that Luther will be by Ethan Hunt’s side in the aftermath that is depicted in Part 2.
Henry Czerny
Mission: Impossible fans haven’t seen Eugene Kittridge since Brian De Palma’s franchise starter back in 1996, but he’s back in a big way now, set to play a key role in both halves of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. Henry Czerny is back in the role decades after his original appearance. Since the first film in the Tom Cruise-led series, Czerny has been a part of some notable and popular movies, with two standouts being a part of the horror genre: Scott Derrickson’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s Ready Or Not. He is also part of the cast of Scream 6.
Simon Pegg
Having not been in the first two Mission: Impossible movies, Simon Pegg’s history with the franchise doesn’t go back quite as far as Tom Cruise’s and Ving Rhames’, but he has left a major impact on the films and has made Benji Dunn a fan favorite character. The mask loving tech wiz has been a part of Ethan Hunt’s adventures since Mission: Impossible III, and he will be back by the super spy’s side for both halves of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning.
Rebecca Ferguson
It used to be the case that the Mission: Impossible movies would rotate out its female leads – with Emmanuelle Béart, Thandiwe Newton, Maggie Q, and Paula Patton each only appearing in one movie, despite their characters surviving the blockbuster action. Rebecca Ferguson finally ended that streak following her debut in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Following her stellar introduction, MI6 operative Ilsa Faust returned in Fallout, and there is every expectation that she will be a prominent figure in everything that plays out across both halves of the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning duology.
Vanessa Kirby
Alanna Mitsopolis a.k.a. The White Widow was introduced as a mysterious gray-area character in Mission: Impossible – Fallout – with the extra twist added that she is the daughter of Max, the arms dealer played by Vanessa Redgrave in the first movie. Vanessa Kirby, whose notable credits also include The Crown, Hobbs & Shaw, and Pieces Of A Woman, confirmed to Glamour in February 2020 that she was reprising her character in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, and the expectation is that she will be in Part 2 as well.
Hayley Atwell
Of course, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2’s cast isn’t wholly filled with returning stars, as there are plenty of fresh faces getting involved as well. Hayley Atwell is best known for her work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – having played Peggy Carter in the Captain America movies and starred in her own show, Agent Carter – and soon fans will get to see her as part of another big action-centric franchise. Her role in Part 2 has been confirmed by Deadline, and a post on the actor’s personal Instagram page suggests that she will be playing a character named Grace.
Esai Morales
Esai Morales is best known for his work on the small screen, with small screen credits including NYPD Blue, Criminal Minds, Ozark, and Chicago P.D., NCIS: Los Angeles, and Titans, but he’s getting some blockbuster experience on his resume as a part of both Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning movies. The role he is playing in the blockbusters originally belonged to Nicholas Hoult, but scheduling conflicts forced the Mad Max: Fury Road star to drop out of the project in May 2020, leading to Morales nabbing the role.
Shea Whigham
Shea Whigham has spent years establishing himself as one of the best characters actors in the business, and doing so has led him to be a part of some major franchises. He’s been a part of Fast & Furious, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Trek, and the MonsterVerse, and now he is a member of the Mission: Impossible family. The actor confirmed to Digital Spy in May 2022 that he is in both halves of Dead Reckoning, and that his character is “trying to track” Ethan Hunt.
Holt McCallany
While all of the actors mentioned above are going to in both parts of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Holt McCallany’s situation is a bit different due to the fact that he is exclusively in the second movie. His casting was reported in July 2022, and it’s been said that the Mindhunter star will be playing a part in a high government position. Specifically he will be playing the United States’ Secretary of Defense (a man named Bernstein).
Nick Offerman
Audiences primarily know Nick Offerman for his work in comedy – particularly for playing Ron Swanson on the hit NBC series Parks & Recreation – but he will be making a switch over to drama for the action/adventure that is featured in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2. The actor’s part in the blockbuster was confirmed by Christopher McQuarrie on an episode of the Light The Fuse podcast in August.
Pom Klementieff
Based on what we’ve seen from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, Pom Klementieff is going to be playing a forced to be reckoned with in the film, and apparently the threat that she represents isn’t going to be limited to the action that transpires in that single movie. While the actor is also a part of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (in which she is reprising her MCU role as Mantis), it has additionally been confirmed that she will be in the ensembles of both halves of Dead Reckoning.
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is another actor who is set to appear in both parts of Mission: Impossible’s developing epic. Gatiss’ role in Dead Reckoning Part 1 was announced at the same time that Rob Delaney, Charles Parnell, Indira Varma, and Cary Elwes joined the cast, but he is one of only two names in that group who is also going to be in Part 2. He said as much in an interview with Radio Times in September 2022, saying that shooting the blockbusters back-to-back is an “extraordinary experience.”
Charles Parnell
Charles Parnell is the other actor from the aforementioned group that will be in both Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Part 2. The character actor recently worked alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, and it’s not hard to believe that the experience led to Parnell being cast in the upcoming Mission: Impossible movies. In a now-deleted Tweet, Christopher McQuarrie shared an image of Parnell’s character in Part 2 alongside Mark Gatiss and…
Janet McTeer
Janet McTeer’s casting in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 at the same time as Nick Offerman’s, though it is unknown at this time what kind of role she will have in the blockbuster sequel. Like some of her co-stars, McTeer is best known for her work on the small screen, with credits on shows including Damages, Jessica Jones, and Ozark.
With all of these talented stars aboard, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 will arrive in theaters a little less than a year after its predecessor – specifically on June 28, 2024. That’s a long time from now, but there is plenty of entertainment on the way between now and then and you can learn about everything that’s coming out with our 2022 Move Release Calendar and our guide to the upcoming movies in 2023.
