The trailer for Mission: Impossible - Fallout made its debut during Super Bowl LII. Tom Cruise returns as IMF senior field operations agent Ethan Hunt, with fellow field agents Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) joining in on the action. While M:I - 6 will mark the first film in the series to not involve a new director per franchise tradition (Christopher McQuarrie also directed 2015's Rogue Nation), everything appears to be business as usual for Agent Hunt and Co. in their globe-spanning espionage hunt to right wrongs and save the day.
Fallout sees some new faces joining the cast (including Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and The Crown's Vanessa Kirby), and some familiar ones as well (including Michelle Monaghan, who appeared as Ethan's wife Julia in M:I III and Ghost Protocol, and Alec Baldwin as IMF secretary Alan Hunley). Naturally, the plot is as secretive as a covert assignment, but woven through the trailer are various clues hinting at things to come once Fallout hits theaters this summer.
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So, your mission”should you choose to accept it”is to keep keep reading to check out the full trailer breakdown for Mission: Impossible - Fallout.
25. 'Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It...'
The M:I - Fallout trailer vibe is immediately dark - tonally and literally. A silhouette of Ethan Hunt descends a staircase, gun-in-hand, as Sean Harris' Solomon Lane speaks the familiar Mission: Impossible credo: "Your mission, should you choose to accept it..." The only notable difference is that, in this case, he's gearing Ethan toward something of an existential crisis, with the follow-up question, "Did you ever choose not to?" Then, not unlike Mr. White's "You're a kite dancing in a hurricane" line from Spectre (there are noticeable Sam Mendes/007 vibes happening here), Lane addresses the fact that the end Hunt has "always feared is coming." Cue subtitle mention as he adds: "The blood will be on your hands”the fallout of all your good intentions."
24. The Returning Villain
If your memory has gotten a bit cloudy since 2015, Solomon Lane was the villain in Rogue Nation. He was a former IMF agent-turned-Syndicate leader. After the events of Rogue Nation, he ended up in custody, but appears to have a substantial part to play in this go-around. For whatever reason, Hunt appears to need him (For information? Personal reasons?), but we'll touch on that later in the trailer...
23. A Mistake in Berlin
It appears that Hunt's central problem in Fallout revolves around a mistake that went down in Berlin. IMF secretary Alan Hunley (Baldwin) reminds Ethan that he had to make a "terrible choice," taking one person's life to save million. Whose life that may be, as well as why it ultimately led to disarray, is a mystery. But what would a Mission: Impossible movie be without something going cataclysmically wrong in the opening sequence?
22. Alec Baldwin Returns as Alan Hunley
Speaking of Hunley, Alec Baldwin returns to the series after his series introduction in Rogue Nation. Starting out in more of an adversarial role back in Rogue Nation, Hunley has since shifted from Director of the CIA to Secretary of the IMF, building on the complicated relationship between himself and Ethan. He's the man who ultimately tells Hunt that due to Hunt's errors, "the world is at risk."
21. The Plutonium MacGuffin
What sort of risk, you ask? According to Angela Bassett's as-yet-unidentified character associated with the CIA, the risk is plutonium. During Ethan's Berlin mission, he was meant to have retrieved said plutonium and”not unlike Doc and Marty in Back to the Future”kept it out of enemies hands. Per a news headline on a TV in the trailer, this mistake has apparently led to a nuclear attack.
20. The CIA
The first glimpse of Fallout's CIA characters introduce the aforementioned Bassett, as well as Henry Cavill's August Walker. It appears that Bassett's character has taken over Hunley's original position as CIA director, which would explain the heightened stress levels. Meanwhile, for anyone wondering what Superman's digitally-manipulated face looked like pre-tampering in Justice League, here it is on full display.
19. The Team is Back Together
Fallout sees the reunion of Ethan Hunt's familiar team, though it's hardly under happy circumstances. It's unclear whether or not they were directly related to the mishap started by Hunt (he has a tendency to shooting first, consult his team second) but they're along for the ride nonetheless. According to Bassett's character, they ought to have sacrificed themselves for the greater good. Missing from this go-around, however, is Jeremy Renner's William Brandt.
18. Ilsa Faust
Former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust began a complicated relationship with Ethan Hunt back in Rogue Nation, ultimately proving to be a solid ally. In Fallout, however, it appears as though the two of them are going to have a”ahem”falling out. Judging by the fact Ethan insists she back down from whatever it is she's pursuing, paired with her line, "Please, don't make me go through you," some friendly fire is sure to go down (which gets referenced later on in the trailer).
17. Luther Stickell
The longest-lasting member of Hunt's posse is Luther Stickell. The disavowed-turned-reappointed IMF agent gives no clear indication as to what sort of role he'll specifically be playing in Fallout, but if his previous roles are indicators of anything, chances are he'll maintain his position as a Hunt loyalist through and through.
16. Benji Dunn
Rounding out the returning crew is Benji Dunn, the team's personal technician. Having first shown up in M:I III, Benji will undoubtedly maintain his status as comic relief. In the trailer, he certainly appears to be taking on a more active role than he has in previous installments, getting field experience, but ultimately looking noticeably more concerned as a result...
15. Spies in the Sewers
Since Hunt and Co. are going to be working under the radar (similar to how they've done things in essentially every single one of the Mission: Impossible movies), Ethan, Luther, and Benji take to the waters (beneath Paris, it seems) in Fallout. Either they're tracking someone down or simply hiding out, but an inevitable chase sequence is bound to follow this ride at some point or another.
14. Bringing the Action to Paris
Eventually, the team finds themselves on Paris' surface (as noted by the Arc de Triomphe). Quite a bit of the film's action will take place in France's capital, and it's during this point in the trailer where August Walker's voiceover explains that Hunt may have reached a breaking point when it comes to the US government constantly treating him like the enemy/betraying him.
13. Ethan vs. Ilsa
Now, back to that friendly fire mentioned earlier. After Walker asks "How long before a man like that has had enough," Ethan shows zero mercy towards towards Ilsa (the attitude is mutual), driving his car directly into her and launching her clean off her motorcycle. From the looks of it, Ethan has someone of importance in the passenger seat - someone with whom Ilsa may well have a complicated relationship. Why, then, is Ethan protecting him? The plot thickens.
12. Who's in the Car?
If you look closely, it looks as though Ethan has Solomon Lane sitting shotgun. Curious though that may be, some clues scattered throughout the trailer hint at that Hunt and Lane have unfinished business to attend to. Ilsa may simply be following orders, but given the fact that she insisted she didn't want to go through Ethan, chances are there is more to this story than meets the eye.
11. Solomon's Near-Death Experience
Bound in a straitjacket, the trailer makes it pretty clear that Solomon faces an imminent death by drowning. The vessel in which he's being transported is flooded with water and his lack of movement spells certain doom. However, a shot in the trailer before this one shows a masked character rescuing Solomon. Considering their presumed companionship later on, a betting man might suggest Ethan himself is his rescuer.
10. Rock Climbing (And Falling)
Now that the pace of the trailer has been substantially amped up, we get glimpses of the death-defying stunts which Cruise performed himself. In one particular scenario, Ethan is scaling a cliff with nothing more than a pair of gloves and some serious confidence. He ultimately loses his grip and falls, but chances are he survives the fall - assuming, of course, that this isn't spoiling Cruise's final moment in the franchise.
(It isn't.)
9. The Stranger in the Hospital
During a scene in a hospital, Ethan attacks a patient handcuffed to their bed, but Luther holds him back. It's unclear who exactly the character is, but chances are they cut him deep. (Given that Benji is missing from the scene, might he have bit the bullet?) Luther explains to Ethan that losing control of themselves is "not who they are," but shifts in values appear to be a major theme in Fallout, so... chances are Luther's words of wisdom won't hold much weight after all.
8. Bathroom Battle
It's anyone's guess as to whether or not certain new characters in Fallout are actually heroes or villains, but a particularly brutal fight scene in a men's bathroom clearly shows Ethan and August fighting side-by-side (or that's at least what appears be the case). This series is no stranger to turncoats, but as far as this scene shows, the two make a solid pair when it comes to cracking skulls.
7. Arming Up
Between various shootouts and what appears to be an upscale rave in the Grand Palais, Ethan is led past a crew of undercover soldiers by Vanessa Kirby's mysterious singer. These men are gearing up for something serious”or this just how they typically roll. Assuming they're guards of some sort, it's clear that Kirby's character is more than just your average lounge singer.
6. Julia Returns to the Franchise
After M:I III, Ethan's wife Julia was forced to fake her own death for her own safety. In Fallout, however, she makes her grand return (the cameo at the end of Ghost Protocol hardly counts). Little is known about the part she plays in this movie, though she is donning HAO uniform, which is seen earlier on in the trailer when Ethan and his team are investigating some dead bodies. You can just barely make out the text on her uniform, which appears to read: "Humanitarian Aid Organization."
5. The Helicopter Stunt
Tom Cruise has been very vocal about how excited he was about the helicopter stunt in Fallout, explaining that he spent roughly two years planning it. It's fair to assume that this moment in the trailer is showing the very beginning of the scene, with Ethan climbing up a rope attached to the helicopter (no doubt Cruise performing the stunt himself with little-to-no CGI).
4. Piloting the Copter
As if his preparation for the movie wasn't intense enough, Cruise went so far as to get his helicopter license so that he could fly one himself. Forget green screens. Forget stunt pilots. All of the helicopter flying (as far as we're led to believe) is done by Cruise himself. So, during what appears to be a climactic moment near the end of the film, when you see Cruise at the helm, you're actually seeing Cruise at the actual helm.
3. The Potential Villain
Touching back on the point made earlier about August Walker's true allegiance, the trailer would have you believe that he is clearly one of Fallout's big baddies. While this scene could easily be the result of a major misunderstanding, the use of artillery definitely hints at something arguably more aggressive.
2. Head-On Collision
The end of Fallout's trailer certainly ends on an epic cliffhanger. In one of the most dangerous-looking games of chicken, Ethan flies his helicopter straight toward an oncoming truck (which shows no signs of moving out of the way). A character in this franchise hasn't come this close to ramming head-first into machinery since Emilio Estevez's character death in the first Mission: Impossible. Hopefully Ethan will fare better.
1. Tom Cruise's Actual Broken Foot
While filming one of Fallout's chase sequences in London (Tom Cruise is actually chasing Henry Cavill's character, which further hints at the probability that August Walker isn't who he appears to be), there was an accident. While jumping across a building, Cruise's right foot caught the side of the building at an unfortunate angle, breaking it immediately. Not only did Cruise somehow manage to complete the scene after pulling himself off the building, it's in the final cut of the movie”and in the trailer. If you look closely (though you may not want to), you'll clearly see how unnaturally his foot is being bent.
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Which moment in the trailer has you most excited for Mission: Impossible - Fallout? Let us know in the comments!
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