This summer marks the potential beginning of the end of Ethan Hunt’s impossible career in espionage. As Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One takes its place as one of the most anticipated action movies of this year, Tom Cruise’s legacy franchise is breaking out the big guns to impress fans old and new. The most recent proof of this is the casting of actor Hannah Waddingham, whose Mission: Impossible 8 role already has Ted Lasso fans psyched.
Announcing the news through Instagram, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie kicked the hype engines into overdrive with a simple photo and caption. Before we dig into what fans of the Apple TV+ original series have had to say, take a moment to marvel at this news for yourself:
You probably could have used a stopwatch to time how long it took for the Ted Lasso reactions to start pouring in. Kicking off with commenter “jerogomezrobledo,” the rallying cries for all faithfuls of Jason Sudekis’ warm-hearted football coach started up with cheers such as this:
The LASSO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile, user “walterarmenta2015” continued the good feelings with another invocation of the series’ titular character. If you were wondering if Hannah Waddingham’s casting was approved by the fictitious inspirational sports figure, let this message ease your mind:
Coach Lasso approves this cast
Of course, if you’re going to cast Ms. Waddingham in any project, be it Mission: Impossible 8 or even making her a part of Hocus Pocus 2’s roster, you’d better be ready for a special set of comments. Yes, friends, it’s time to deliver the baked goods, as “jkschumack” has opened the tin on some very special references:
Hunt better recover those biscuits.
Ok, hear me out: it’s not too late to write a scene into next summer’s epic Mission: Impossible epic in which Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt has to run a tin of shortbread across an aircraft carrier. We probably won’t see anything like that happen, but that hasn’t stopped user “simonb909” from making a joke about that very foodstuff being involved in Hannah Waddingham’s hiring:
I [hope] you gave her a box of shortbread every morning she was on set.
It looks like we’ve found the most recurring question for the Mission: Impossible 8 press tour, just as sure as you could expect Cary Elwes’ spot in the Mission: Impossible 7 cast to inspire journalists to make references to The Princess Bride. So let’s close things off strong with “legendrecordingstudio” just flat out saying what’s on all of our minds:
Biscuits with the Boss!
One of the breakout stars of Ted Lasso’s cast, Hannah Waddingham’s character Rebecca has faithful fans hoping for a spinoff, provided that Season 3 is indeed the last ride. While Waddingham has noted no official plans for such a venture, her gracious nature about the matter shows just why she’s become so popular. Mixing that sort of star power with the Mission: Impossible series is only good news for people who love spy adventures, as well as biscuits with the boss.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning will play out in two parts, with Part One hitting theaters on July 14th. Part Two is set to shoot soon, with a June 28. 2024 release date on the books. If you want to catch up on every Mission before this two-part conclusion, those of you with a Paramount+ subscription can currently do so. Meanwhile, what we know about Ted Lasson Season 3 is that it will debut starting March 15th, only on Apple TV+.
