Henry Cavill breaks down his "arm reload" in 2018's Mission: Impossible - Fallout. The sixth film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Fallout brought franchise star Tom Cruise back as IMF agent Ethan Hunt and introduced Cavill's character, CIA agent August Walker. Walker was eventually revealed as the true villain of the movie before dying in a gruesome fashion. However, he made quite an impression on Mission: Impossible fans before his demise. Directed by Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie, the film followed the franchise's tradition of shocking and impressive stunts, but perhaps its most-talked about scene was a brutal fight sequence featuring Cavill, Cruise, and stuntman Liang Yang.
In the now-famous bathroom scene, Hunt and Walker are searching for an arms dealer by the name of John Lark. Though Walker was eventually revealed to be Lark, early on in the film he and Hunt chase a lead that brings them to a Paris nightclub. The pair, hoping to tranquilize their target to use face-scanning technology to take on his identity, corner him in the bathroom, which is extremely well-lit and full of mirrors and white walls, making the action easy to follow and engaging as well as suspenseful due to the characters having nowhere to hide. Both Cavill and Cruise went all out in the barbaric brawl that followed, admitting to extreme soreness once filming was over.
During an appearance the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Cavill explained one particular detail in the bathroom fight that would later go viral. In the scene, Cavill's character Walker seems to reload his arms by pumping them before throwing a punch. Though that small scene soon became the talk of the Internet due to its amusing implications, Cavill says it was the result of soreness after having filmed the same fight for weeks on end. See what the actor had to say below:
“It was actually because we need to - it was a rather intense fight scene, we actually had been shooting it for about three weeks at that stage, which is a long time in comparison to things like The Witcher, we get a day. And everything starts to get quite sore after a while, because it’s a lot of repetitive motion. And the connective tendons in my biceps were getting sore, so I had to warm them up before I threw punches. I would literally do that to warm them up, and I did it once, and I thought ‘oh, god that probably looked really stupid I can’t believe I did that.’ And I said, ‘oh sorry McQ [director Christopher McQuarrie], I’ll do that again.’ And he’s like, ‘do what? Okay, whatever, let’s go again.’ And then I did another take without doing it, and he’s like, ‘why didn’t you do that thing? That was really good.’ And I was like, ‘that was good?’ And he said, ‘yes! Definitely do that.’ And we did.”
How Cavill's Arm Reload Exploded On The Internet
Cavill 'reloading' his arms quickly became an Internet meme, going down in pop culture history as a funny reference to the immersive fight. The detail does add realism to the fight, since hand-to-hand combat is hard on the joints and limbs, so it makes sense that McQuarrie wanted to include it despite Cavill feeling that it "looked really stupid." The public clearly agreed with Cavill's sense that the arm pump would stand out in the fight, but the true reason for that moment exploding on social media was the pure reach of Mission: Impossible - Fallout, which became the highest-grossing Mission: Impossible to date. The film also achieved critical acclaim, bringing in a huge crowd that was previously indifferent to the franchise, leading to many more eyes on Cavill's infamous 'reload' that helped it spread further.
Another reason for the "Henry Cavill Arm Reload" meme's popularity was the success of the bathroom fight scene in particular. That one sequence was shot over a whopping four weeks, with McQuarrie working to ensure that each character had a fighting style unique to their persona, with Cavill coming in with blunt force. Since McQuarrie is set to direct both Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning: Part One and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning: Part Two, perhaps more viral moments will come of those final outings in the franchise. Additionally, McQuarrie has teased Cavill's return in Mission: Impossible 8 despite his character's death, which is an exciting prospect for fans of his famed Mission: Impossible - Fallout character.
Source: Happy Sad Confused - Henry Cavill Vol. II
