“It was one we knew we had to make”: Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible 7 Director Defends Major Death of Fan-Favorite Character That Left Fans Devastated
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One has proven to be an unstoppable force at the box office, racking $235 million globally within the first five days of its release.
Tom Cruise remains as young and intense as he was when he first played Ethan Hunt in 1996. This time the IMF agent drives through the chaos by jumping off a cliff on a motorcycle in his pursuit to control Dead Reckoning‘s main villain – The Entity, an artificial intelligence gone rogue.
But Cruise’s stunts aren’t the only selling point of the seventh installment of the iconic franchise. This time Ethan has to also confront his hidden sorrows, amplified by the death of another loved one during his umpteenth mission.
Director Explains the Death of an Important Character in Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible 7
Spoiler Alert: This part of the article contains details from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
While the majority of the fans have left theaters pleased with the complex yet refreshing plot of Tom Cruise‘s movie that still has its own sequel lined up, there were some sad reactions to Director Christopher McQuarrie’s decision to kill Ethan’s ally, Ilsa Faust.
The role of the former MI6 operative is played by Rebecca Ferguson, who became a staple in Ethan Hunt’s numerous missions – three if you want to be precise. Ever since her introduction in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, she has made Ilsa a fan-favorite character by bringing both beautiful looks and powerful combative abilities (just go back and look how brilliantly/beautifully she uses her thighs to put down the bad guys in Rogue Nation) to the table.
However, in the current movie, the Swede’s role is limited, and the ending of her role is one to leave a teary eye or two. It is believed The Entity can be controlled by a key – which is scattered around the world in two parts. One-half of the key is stolen by Ilsa, who even meets Ethan at an isolated place before being killed by Gabriel, the liaison of The Entity, during a fight with the antagonist.
Not everyone has taken the end of Ferguson’s character well, but McQuarrie has given an apt explanation for the unfortunate development:
“[It was] a really tough decision. But it was one we knew we had to make for the movie to have stakes and for the movie to remain ‘Mission.’ ‘Mission’ is primarily Ethan’s journey (and) there is this continuum that the people closest to him, he tends to lose them. It was a really tricky conversation for us to have, and we knew that there would be some reactions to that, but we also knew this is the reality of the world that’s been created over seven movies.”
Tom Cruise’s Character Shattered by Fan-Favorite’s Death in Mission: Impossible 7
Fans are unhappy with Ilsa’s death for emotional reasons, and critics have been quick to point out their disappointment with sacrificing yet another prominent female character for the cause of the male lead. But as McQuarrie pointed out, this is the reality of the world.
Despite Ethan Hunt’s resilience and power, it’s only realistic that he fails to protect everyone around him. Further, Ilsa’s death has left him shattered and it is going to add to his motivation and anger to end Gabriel’s life in Dead Reckoning Part Two.
For that, though, fans will have to wait until 2024, with the eighth and potentially final installment of the franchise scheduled to release next summer.
Source: USA Today
