Push those thoughts about Henry Cavill’s mustache to the back of your mind. It’s time to get back to what makes the Mission: Impossible franchise as excellent as it is: Tom Cruise pushing himself ever further into stunt-man-avoiding madness. Last time out, of course, the aging action icon dangled from a ruddy plane to get cinemagoers’ attention.

There’s certainly some escalation going on: the film franchise that began with Cruise dangling from some wires in a vault now takes in such eye-widening antics as Cruise scaling the Burj Khalifa. But how will director Christopher McQuarrie top the previous epic moments with his upcoming sequel, Mission: Impossible 6?

Related: Why Henry Cavill Can't Shave His Mission: Impossible Mustache

The answer, it seems, is out of this world. Literally. The Daily Mail has shared some sensational snaps from the set of M:I 6, which show Cruise parachuting from great heights. The stunt, by the sounds of it, will be blended with special effects shots to display Ethan Hunt parachuting from space all the way down to Earth. You can glimpse the images here:

This makes a certain amount of sense, when you think about it. Cruise has already climbed the tallest building on Planet Earth. To get Ethan Hunt – ‘the living manifestation of destiny’ – up to higher heights, only space travel will do. Hopefully, this will be another scintillating slice of action gold from Cruise, McQuarrie and the Mission: Impossible series.

However, you could argue that sending Ethan Hunt out of Earth's atmosphere is a touch predictable. It’s an old hat, action movie, ‘make the stakes higher’ trick, which the James Bond franchise has already done numerous times. There’s also talk of the Fast & Furious films heading into space in the future.

And with regards to Cruise’s latest stunt, you could argue that one of those set-ups has been done before. The Air Force One rescue sequence from Iron Man 3, better known in some circles as the ‘barrel of monkeys’ scene, already did the whole ‘holding hands in a circle to survive a deadly skydive’ bit.

Of course, it will all come out in the wash. If Cruise’s space-to-parachute-to-ground stunt is executed well enough, not many people will care if it has similarities to previous action films. They’ll be too busy picking up their jaws from the floor. (Also, there will probably be loads more stunts - some of those could be more original.)

NEXT: Christopher McQuarrie Highlights the Women of Mission: Impossible 6

Source: The Daily Mail