Another familiar face is returning for Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8, with Henry Czerny's former IMF boss, Kittridge confirmed to appear. Following the acclaim and success of Mission: Impossible - Fallout in 2018, Paramount Pictures didn't waste too much time plotting the future of the franchise. They announced near the end of that year that Christopher McQuarrie was returning to write and direct two sequels that would release in 2021 and 2022.
Ever since that news broke, Mission: Impossible fans have been excited to see where McQuarrie takes the franchise next. With his two prior entries in the series, he's managed to tie together various elements and bring back multiple characters. For Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 though, most of the news so far has been about the new cast of characters that will appear alongside Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt. But, McQuarrie has now revealed that one of Hunt's oldest colleagues is now set to return in the upcoming films.
As announced by McQuarrie on Twitter, Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 will bring back Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge. Czerny made his only appearance in the franchise in the original 1996 Mission: Impossible. The actor has most recently starred in Ready or Not, HBO's Sharp Objects, and ABC's Revenge. He will now return to the Mission: Impossible franchise for the first time in over 20 years and do so in both sequels.
The news that Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 will feature the return of Kittridge is an exciting detail for fans of the series, especially with McQuarrie's tease that "there is no escaping the past." When Kittridge last appeared in the franchise, it was as the director of the Impossible Mission Force. At the time, he was suspicious of Ethan being a mole but that was proven not to be the case. It isn't known what happened to Kittridge after these events, but the IMF moved on to find different directors. Most recently, Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) was in charge of the organization, but that position is now open again after he was killed in Fallout.
With the current state of the IMF, it would be fascinating to see Kittridge return to lead the organization once again. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but what really matters is that he'll appear at all. Czerny joins the likes of Rebecca Ferguson and Simon Pegg as returning cast members for the sequels, while Hayley Atwell, Nicholas Hoult, Pom Klementieff, and Shea Whigham will play new characters. But, the return of Kittridge could be an indication that McQuarrie has a few other surprises to reveal before Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 begin filming at some point this year.
Source: Christopher McQuarrie
