To the delight of action fans everywhere, it was recently confirmed that Christopher McQuarrie will return to write and direct the next two Mission: Impossible movies. With Mission: Impossible 7 not hitting theaters until 2021, we don’t know much about it yet, like the plot or what injuries Tom Cruise will suffer while making it. We do, however, know one cast member who will be returning because Rebecca Ferguson will reprise her role as Ilsa Faust in Mission: Impossible 7.
Rebecca Ferguson did not provide any details about her return, and with the scripts not even written yet, she probably doesn’t know anything yet. But when asked on ITV’s Lorraine if we would see her in Mission: Impossible 7 she simply replied, “You will.” So she's been told that much, that we haven’t seen the last of the enigmatic, beautiful and badass Ilsa Faust in the Mission: Impossible franchise.
This might come as little shock considering how big a role Rebecca Ferguson’s character played in Mission: Impossible - Fallout and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, but characters in the Mission: Impossible franchise come and go, often without any real explanation. This is especially true of the female characters and love interests, as evidenced by Paula Patton’s Jane and Thandie Newton’s Nyah.
Like the confirmation of two new entries in one of the best franchises going, more of Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust is welcome news. Rogue Nation and Fallout acted as two parts of a larger story and Ilsa Faust was an integral part of that story. Thanks to Rebecca Ferguson’s performance, the MI6 agent’s constantly fluctuating role as femme fatale, antagonist, frenemy and ally made her fascinating to watch.
By the end of Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Ilsa Faust basically felt like part of the team alongside Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell and Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn. Seeing that team continue into Mission: Impossible 7 should be awesome (assuming everyone else returns).
There is also the matter of her 'will they or won’t they' relationship with Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. There is a scene at the end of Fallout where Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust whispers something to Ethan Hunt’s former wife Julia, played by Michelle Monaghan. This moment almost seemed to cement that Julia and Ethan will not be together again and that Julia has given Ilsa permission to pursue a romantic relationship with him.
We'll have to see how that turns out, so it is good Rebecca Ferguson is returning, especially if these next two Mission: Impossible movies wind up being the last two in the franchise. Henry Cavill’s August Walker and Alec Baldwin’s Alan Hunley may also join Rebecca Ferguson in one or both of the next two Mission: Impossible movies, although those two characters would be more difficult to imagine given their fates in Fallout.
Mission: Impossible 7 arrives in theaters on July 23, 2021. For movies hitting a little bit sooner than that, check out our 2019 release schedule.
