If The ‘Mission: Impossible’ Franchise Is Over, I’m Honestly Relieved

With Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning now in theaters, the M:I franchise appears to have finally reached its conclusion.

After 29 years, seven movies, and just as many death-defying stunts, Final Reckoning is not only tying together the franchise’s loose ends, but raising its stakes to astronomical proportions. The plot of Final Reckoning — and the way in which the movie has been marketed — feel definitive and truly final.

But is this really the end? While Cruise himself has confirmed that this is the final M:I movie, no one else alive in 2025 seems to believe that. That said, it would be a truly great thing if the franchise does make good on its marketing promises and sees itself out. Here’s why.

The story is complete

The Final Reckoning recalls numerous characters and themes from Ethan Hunt’s past, somewhat like a greatest hits album. Indeed, Dead Reckoning — the movie’s direct prequel — was already tapping forgotten figures from Hunt’s personal history to lend the film gravitas. It mostly succeeded, convincing audiences that Hunt was passing through his most epic test yet — one that summoned all of his powers.

Beyond that full-circle feel, there’s Final Reckoning’s AI villain: the Entity. In addition to being a very 2025 creation, the Entity is Hunt’s greatest adversary. Smarter and more unpredictable at every turn, the Entity nearly succeeds in its mission to take over the planet by the end of Dead Reckoning. Such a formidable force cannot be easily topped in a future iteration of the franchise. 

Tom Cruise can’t do this forever

Before Cruise started insisting that Final Reckoning was his last outing as Hunt, he was singing a different tune — namely, that he wanted to play Hunt into his 80s, like Harrison Ford did with Indiana Jones in Dial of Destiny. But Cruise glossed over a key point: Ford was not doing the types of death-defying stunts that Cruise is famously fond of. Ford may have ridden a horse for DoD, but the man also injured his shoulder choreographing a fight scene and surely wasn’t about to try hanging off the side of a plane. Even with the blessing of Xenu and the best medical team on Planet Earth, Tom Cruise will not be able to outrun old age. And if he does decide to film Mission Impossible: the Final Final Reckoning at age 79, his planet-sized ego will probably prevent him from ceding any stunt work to another actor. That would result in a dull movie.

The spy genre has changed 

The Mission: Impossible franchise has felt increasingly like a relic of a bygone Hollywood. With indie movies taking over the Oscars and IP-reliant movies taking over the box office, its star-powered bombast has acquired a vintage sheen. Meanwhile, stylized spy movies and series with younger and more diverse stars have injected the genre with passion and originality. See: Atomic Blonde starring Charlize Theron, Killing Eve starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, and the Kingsman movies with Taron Egerton, to name a few. Call me crazy, but spy movies with an aging white male protagonist might become a bit passé in ten years — especially after Generation Alpha becomes a major consumer force. And who’s to say Gen Alpha will even go to the movies in the first place?

Diminishing box office returns

Dead Reckoning reportedly lost Paramount between 100 and 200 million USD at the box office — an amount that could have fed a small country for an entire day. And with Final Reckoning’s massive budget, there’s a chance that it won’t make a truckload of money, either. If it does manage to make a profit, that’s because of its purported status as the franchise’s “final” film. Audiences want to be part of such a massive event. But if Paramount gives into Cruise’s whims and greenlights yet another film after this “final” one, the viewing public might feel a bit betrayed. The resultant box office turnout might be even more depressing than that of Dead Reckoning. 

Moral of the story: Let the Mission: Impossible franchise die! It’s had a great run and Final Reckoning is the correct ending. Accept that, Tom Cruise! And honestly, you could use the extra time with your children. And potentially a therapist?