Is Mission Impossible 8 The Last One? The Final Reckoning Ending Explained
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There's a strong chance we haven't seen the last of Tom Cruise's super spy Ethan Hunt.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is billed and marketed as the last film in Cruise's long-running Mission: Impossible series, but the reality is very different. So, how likely is a sequel?
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Cruise alongside Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny, and Angela Bassett, the story picks up where 2023's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning left off. Namely, with Cruise and his team of agents racing to prevent a powerful AI entity falling into the wrong hands.
Tom Cruise stars in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Tom Cruise stars in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Paramount Pictures
In this article you can expect massive spoilers for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which released Friday, 23 May, 2025.
Is Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning The Last Movie?
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is being promoted as the last movie in the series. That's not only clear from the title itself, but the film's nostalgia-laden plot, which features copious flashbacks to key moments and major characters from across the 30-year franchise.
However, that doesn't necessarily mean it is the last movie. Cruise's character notably doesn't die at the end of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. He manages tounfurl his parachute at the last minute as he drops from a crashing biplane. That suggests he could reprise his role in a future instalment. But should he?
Cruise is now 61 years old, and while he's still in incredible shape, those wild stunts the Mission: Impossible films are known for are only going to get more taxing. In addition, Cruise is set to start filming a SpaceX collaboration film with director Doug Liman next. That's going to delay the next Mission: Impossible, so he could be 65 by the time it enters production.
Is There Going to be a Mission: Impossible 9?
Mission: Impossible could continue without Cruise. It seems unthinkable now, but there are plenty of actors who could take Ethan's place, similar to how a procession of actors have played the character of James Bond. However, if Cruise and his team deem Ethan irreplaceable, the film could centre on a different IMF agent while still retaining everything that makes the Mission: Impossible films so popular.
Pegg, Atwell, Czerny, Bassett, Klementieff and more legacy characters could feature in any subsequent instalments, and Paramount could ensure tonal consistency by using the same director in Christopher McQuarrie.
Back in June 2022, McQuarrie teased further Mission: Impossible movies that extend past Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. He told Fandango "Parts 1 and 2 are not the end of the series, and they already have ideas for what comes next." That was three years ago though, to be fair, and a lot can happen in that time.
NEW from Rome! #MissionImpossible director Christopher McQuarrie tells Fandango that #DeadReckoning Parts 1 & 2 are not the end of the series, and they already have ideas for what comes next. Part 1 is only in theaters July 12! Get tickets now https://t.co/NikqVaQWGC pic.twitter.com/SQ86wHIgn7 — Fandango (@Fandango) June 18, 2023
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Ending
At the end of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Cruise manages to wrestle the AI key from Gabriel while the pair fight in the cockpit of a biplane. Gabriel falls from the plane, hitting his head on the tail and plummeting to the Earth (the fall will have killed him, but we don't actually see him die).
Cruise, meanwhile, lands safely. He's able to destroy the AI entity and avert global nuclear war. The film ends in London's Trafalgar Square, where he and his IMF agents meet up and share knowing smiles.
So, they're reunited once again, which certainly sets up a possible sequel. However, considering Cruise's age and the finality of the ending, it might be best to leave it there.
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