Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1's excellent cast is filled with stars who appeared in previous installments of the action-forward series – including Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, and Henry Czerny – but one familiar face missing from the ensemble is Angela Bassett. There were plans to bring the Oscar-nominated actor back as Erika Sloane, the character she played in Mission: Impossible - Fallout, but the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately prevented that from happening.
So what was her part going to be? That's a question that has been asked of writer/director Christopher McQuarrie, and answered. Speaking with Variety, the filmmaker spoke about the return of Erika Sloane that didn't come together, and he explained that she was going to be featured in the early scene in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 where members of the intelligence community gather to discuss the dangerous artificial intelligence known as The Entity. Said McQuarrie,
It's interesting, she was going to be the head of the CIA. She would’ve been in that room with all the other heads of the intelligence community that you meet.
Angela Bassett's Erika Sloane surely would have fit right into that meeting alongside Henry Czerny's Eugene Kittridge and Cary Elwes' Denlinger, and it would have been fun to have her presence enhance the depth of canon in the scene given her history in the franchise. If one wants to look at her absence from the most positive point of view, however, it can be pointed out that she gets spared being knocked unconscious by the smoke bomb that is activated by an infiltrator (that's as spoiler-y as I'll get for those of you who have not yet seen the film).
Fortunately, just because Angela Bassett's Erika Sloane isn't in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 doesn't mean that her time with the franchise is at an end. Obviously there's at least one more title on the way (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2, which is presently scheduled for release in June 2024), and there is no plan to have that film be the finale. Addressing the potential to see Sloane again in a future Mission: Impossible sequel, Christopher McQuarrie said,
And we’re not done with Angela Bassett… Angela is too fabulous, you could never ever let Angela get away. So there’s always a plan in the future.
For now, fans can go see Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 and at least appreciate the Angela Bassett Easter egg that comes in the form of a portrait that can be spotted hanging on the wall during Denlinger's meeting. The movie is now playing in theaters everywhere, and you should certainly make an effort to see it on the biggest screen possible to get the most out of it.
