When we last left Henry Czerny’s Eugene Kittridge in the Mission: Impossible franchise, he and Ethan Hunt had made up after a little game of cat and mouse. Of course, the stakes of that game was the entire roster of IMF cover operatives, so when Kittridge made moves like legally harassing Ethan’s mother and uncle, it was all in the name of the mission. And now, after hearing of Mr. Czerny’s return to the fold in Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 so long ago, it’s time to finally get our first look at his resurgence.
Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie is the generous benefactor to the fans wanting more information about Mission: Impossible 7, sharing this first look through his Instagram account. And in true McQ fashion, the black and white photo is an artistically obscured peek into what the first of two sequels will have in store for Henry Czerny, and his return to service in the IMF. You can see it for yourself, in the absolutely framable snapshot below:
With Henry Czerny appearing to be reading what looks like script pages, this Mission: Impossible 7 photo was probably taken by Christopher McQuarrie between takes. Another in the impressive collection of moments that McQuarrie has captured behind the scenes, there’s probably enough photos to fill a book about the production of his era of Mission: Impossible history. An era that, thankfully, is starting to dig into the joys of serialized storytelling, and nods to franchise history.
To bring back Eugene Kittridge after 25 years of absence is a serious indicator of just the sort of threat Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 are going to center around. It’s also a great follow-up to the decision made in Mission: Impossible - Fallout to introduce Vanessa Kirby’s White Widow as the daughter of Mission: Impossible’s original arms dealer Max. With franchise precedent firmly in place, the deadly future can move forward in exciting and explosive ways.
Seeing Ethan and Kittridge reuniting in Mission: Impossible 7 is something akin to seeing James Bond reteam with Felix Leiter after years of absence. Though in this particular scenario, it feels like ex-foes will be banding together to get back on the job. We might even see an interesting twist of fate come to pass, as the IMF is without a secretary at this point, and Henry Czerny’s character probably has the seniority and the clout to take the job himself.
As it stands, November 19 will be the day that the world will be able to accept this latest mission, and learn the truth. Though with all of the release date shuffling that’s gone on as of late, especially on the Paramount lot, we might see that debut move up to an earlier spot. Best to keep an eye on that 2021 release schedule, in case any late breaking developments happen to occur.
