Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust Return Is Mission: Impossible's Best Chance To Continue After Tom Cruise

Summary Ilsa Faust's return could secure the future of Mission: Impossible post-Tom Cruise.

Rebecca Ferguson's star power could elevate the franchise as its potential new lead.

Exploring Ilsa's backstory in prequels offers a fresh narrative direction for the series.

The Mission: Impossible franchise has no clear future if Tom Cruise ever steps away, but Rebecca Ferguson returning as Ilsa Faust could help the series continue. Since its inception in 1996, Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt has been the focal point of the Mission: Impossible movies. A rotating cast of characters joined him early on before later sequels solidified a key group of supporting players: Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and Ilsa Faust. With rumors that Tom Cruise could exit after Mission: Impossible 8, the fate of the franchise remains very much up in the air.

Following Rebecca Ferguson's franchise debut in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation in 2015, it was speculated that Ilsa Faust could eventually be tapped as the IP's new lead. There was even some thought that Henry Cavill's August Walker could be Cruise's replacement before Mission: Impossible - Fallout revealed his villain twist. This even came after Mission: Impossible tried and failed to replace Cruise with Jeremy Renner's William Brandt. With Rebecca Ferguson remaining open to a Mission: Impossible return, the franchise's best future returns.

Related 10 Candidates To Be Mission: Impossible’s Lead After Tom Cruise’s Exit It'll be a challenge to replace Tom Cruise in the Mission: Impossible series after his exit, but there are a number of potential candidates.

Ilsa Faust Is Mission: Impossible's Best Character To Replace Ethan Hunt

She's The Most Capable Character To Take Over

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If Mission: Impossible does attempt to carry on without Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, Ilsa Faust is the clear best choice to become the focus. Audiences became enamored with the character thanks to her femme fatale makeup in Ghost Protocol. She's someone who is not afraid to operate in the shadows and with a slightly darker moral compass than Ethan. The Mission: Impossible movies have also repeatedly proven that she is more than capable as a fighter, marksman, and spy. This gives Ilsa all the key characteristics necessary to be the franchise's central character if Ethan is off the table.

The case for Ilsa Faust to be Mission: Impossible's next franchise lead is only emboldened by the lack of competitors. Benji and Luther are best served as supporting characters in the franchise rather than taking on lead roles. Meanwhile, other spies like Paula Patton's Jane and Maggie Q's Zhen have been forgotten by the franchise. Hayley Atwell's Grace is arguably too new of a character to immediately become the franchise's new lead after returning in Mission: Impossible 8. And the franchise surely wouldn't attempt to put Brandt back in the lead role again.

Ilsa emerges as the clear choice among the options for already established characters.

Barring the decision to introduce a completely new character as the next Mission: Impossible lead, Ilsa emerges as the clear choice among the options for already established characters. Although audiences experienced three movies with her, there is still plenty of her life that could be explored in other movies. Her connections to Ethan, Benji, Luther, and other characters also would pave the way for future Mission: Impossible movies to bring them and other familiar characters back if the right opportunity arose.

Tom Cruise has teased Mission: Impossible 9 and beyond could happen

Rebecca Ferguson Is A Big Enough Star To Carry Mission: Impossible

She's Headlined Major Movies & TV Shows

Ilsa Faust is not only the most qualified Mission: Impossible character to replace Ethan Hunt, but Rebecca Ferguson is the biggest star attached to the franchise who could carry on what Tom Cruise started. She has plenty of box office hits over the years, ranging from the Mission: Impossible franchise to the success of both Dune movies. Although these titles did not see Ferguson take on the lead role and prove her status as a bankable lead, they have helped contribute to her being a well-known name. Audiences would be eager to see her play Ilsa Faust more too.

[Rebecca Ferguson] has built a reputation in recent years for starring in critically acclaimed projects

What Rebecca Ferguson might lack as a proven box office draw, she makes up for with the strength of her projects. Whether it is the Mission: Impossible sequels, the Dune franchise, or Doctor Sleep, the actress has built a reputation in recent years for starring in critically acclaimed projects. Her performances are often cited as a strength in these movies' success. This has even translated to the small screen, with Ferguson's sci-fi series Silo proving to be a hit for Apple TV+. The combination of acclaim and financial success could help future Mission: Impossible movies led by Ferguson remain successful.

Notable Rebecca Ferguson Movies & TV Shows Movie/Show Title Rotten Tomatoes Box Office Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) 94% Critics / 87% Audiences $682.7 Million The Girl on the Train (2016) 45% Critics / 49% Audiences $173.1 Million Life (2017) 69% Critics / 54% Audiences $100.5 Million Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) 97% Critics / 88% Audiences $791.6 Million Dune (2021) 83% Critics / 90% Audiences $407.5 Million Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning (2023) 96% Critics / 94% Audiences $575.5 Million Silo (2023) 88% Critics / 63% Audiences Not Applicable Dune: Part Two (2024) 92% Critics / 95% Audiences $704.3 Million

How Ilsa Faust Can Return To Mission: Impossible After Dead Reckoning

Ilsa Died In Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

Ilsa Faust's death in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning seemed to signal the end of Rebecca Ferguson's time with the franchise. Her comments after the finality of Ilsa's demise have left a small door open for her to return. Importantly, this can be done without the franchise undoing the major character death with a mask fakeout or some other retcon.

Related Rebecca Ferguson Already Revealed Her 1 Condition For An Ilsa Faust Mission: Impossible Spinoff There have long been hopes that an Ilsa Faust Mission: Impossible spinoff will happen, and Rebecca Ferguson already revealed her condition to return.

The simplest way for Mission: Impossible to bring Rebecca Ferguson back is to make prequels set before Dead Reckoning. There are years of Ilsa's life between Ghost Protocol and Dead Reckoning that could be explored and used to enhance the overall narrative of the franchise. Showing her time as a rogue agent on her own would fulfill Ferguson's desires for Ilsa as a character and allow the franchise to go in a different direction. This could help flesh out Ilsa's story to the point where her actions in previous movies take on a deeper meaning.

However, it is unclear if Ferguson will actually be given a chance to continue Ilsa's story as the Mission: Impossible franchise's new lead. She has made statements indicating that she is happy to be done with the action movies due to the large time commitment they require, even though she loved playing Ilsa. The filming requirements would only increase if Rebecca Ferguson became Mission: Impossible's Tom Cruise replacement.