Mission: Impossible 8 director Christopher McQuarrie hints Henry Cavill's Fallout villain could return somehow. McQuarrie has been tasked with directing the next two installments in the long-running action franchise after helping it reach new heights with 2018's Mission: Impossible - Fallout. The forthcoming Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 are positioned as two parts of the same story, though little is known about what that story is. They were supposed to shoot back-to-back last year, but numerous delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic has changed that. Mission: Impossible 7 only just wrapped in September.
Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 will feature a mix of returning favorites and franchise newcomers, all led once again by Tom Cruise. While those like Rebecca Ferguson and Simon Pegg are set to continue their arcs with the franchise, there's a major name from the previous movie who won't be hanging around for the seventh film. Cavill, who played secret villain August Walker, isn't expected to make a return appearance for Mission: Impossible 7 after his character met his untimely end. However, that doesn't mean a reprisal is entirely out of the question.
Speaking to THR for a profile on Cavill, McQuarrie admitted he hasn't ruled out a Mission: Impossible 8 return for the actor. McQuarrie isn't deterred by Walker's death and instead seems open to the possibility of somehow reviving him. "I’m in the process of rewriting Mission: 8 right now, this afternoon I could turn a page and any actor from the past could come back," he said. "There is no such thing as death in movies, only unavailability."
For his part, Cavill said last year that he was bummed he couldn't be a part of Mission: Impossible 7. The villainous twist with his character took many fans by surprise, and not just because he is best known for playing the most iconic hero of all time, Superman. Fallout seemed to make Walker's fate pretty clear, having him fall off a cliff following a dramatic showdown with Cruise's Ethan Hunt. However, if McQuarrie truly wanted to, he could claim Walker survived his fall, or even that he was rescued before he hit the ground. As he pointed out, death isn't always permanent in movies.
Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 does feel like a culmination of something in many ways. In between new characters played by Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff are the familiar faces fans have spent years with, including IMF boss Kittridge (Henry Czerny), who returns for the first time since the original Mission: Impossible. With the seventh movie getting pushed back to September 2022, and its follow-up not arriving until July 2023, there's still a ways to go before fans get more answers about what lies ahead for Hunt and the rest. For now, this tease about a potential Cavill return in Mission: Impossible 8 will have to tide fans over as they wait for more news.
Source: THR
