At this point, it’s easy to argue that Mission: Impossible is the best action movie series ever made. Modern contenders for that honor, like John Wick, certainly make a case for themselves. But Tom Cruise‘s longest-running franchise has enough history to secure itself as one of Hollywood’s greatest blockbuster achievements: almost three decades of eight entertaining films that don’t take themselves too seriously, but thoroughly commit to pushing boundaries through wildly impressive stunts — achieving the kind of electrifying, breath-catching spectacle only the film medium can.
Ethan Hunt, Cruise’s hero with a heart of gold, has remained the protagonist from installment-to-installment. He dominates every poster, Cruise’s name leads the credits, and it’s not a true Mission: Impossible movie if Ethan doesn’t run with the urgency of a man chased by cheetahs. Yet the Most Memorable Character baton often falls to the supporting cast, rotating groups replete with new and familiar faces played by charismatic actors doing what they’re best at. Let’s be honest: Ethan would be up a creek without his team of besties, or the enemies who are compelling enough to keep the espionage action man on his toes.
10
Julia Meade
Played by Michelle Monaghan
Although Ethan’s love life isn’t quite as infamous as, say, another fictional spy who goes by the name James Bond, Mission: Impossible switches up Ethan’s love interests more often than not. 2006’s Mission: Impossible III makes the series three-for-three on that score by introducing Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan) as Ethan’s imperiled fiancée and the film’s emotional linchpin.
Another new love interest might have made it difficult to connect with Julia. Thanks to Monaghan’s heart and grit, we understand why Ethan adores her enough to retire, marry her, and obey his enemy’s commands if it means saving her life. Julia even returns the favor, resurrecting Ethan from almost certain death (good thing she’s a nurse!) and taking out some henchmen to boot. Her perspective as an ordinary civilian injects Mission: Impossible III and her rare re-appearances with refreshing energy and pathos, especially since the couple handle their failed relationship with wistful maturity.
9
Paris
Played by Pom Klementieff
Paris (Pom Klementieff) is a woman of few words. She doesn’t need to speak much, since her targets won’t have anything left to say once she’s done with them. Set to return in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the French assassin and secondary villain debuts in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning as Gabriel’s (Esai Morales) best human weapon.
Admittedly, Paris’s character development is as sparse as her limited dialogue (she appears to side with Ethan against Gabriel in The Final Reckoning, so we’ll see what that shift brings). Klementieff’s fun, funny, feral, and athletically intimidating performance compensates for that opaqueness. We buy Paris as a legitimate threat mostly because of how much she relishes doing her job, not just because she can kick Ethan’s butt six ways from Sunday.
8
Alanna Mitsopolis
Played by Vanessa Kirby
With an alias as elegant, intriguing, and dangerous as “the White Widow,” not to mention a mom as fabulous as the first Mission: Impossible‘s Max Mitsopolis (Vanessa Redgrave), you’ve got a reputation to live up to. The cool, calm, and imminently collected Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby) has everything under control, which means you’re just as likely to make a satisfying bargain as you are to find a knife in your back.
A recurring quasi-antagonist since Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the arms dealer and criminal broker follows in her mother’s footsteps, having inherited Max’s business. Just like her cunning mom, Alanna thrives within the world’s gray areas, especially when it comes to manipulating profitable outcomes and psychological power plays. Kirby’s charismatic take elevates what could be a typical femme fatale archetype into a scene-stealing delight: sly, perceptive, assertive, flirty, and unflinchingly ruthless, a woman capable of playing every side, not just both.
7
Jane Carter
Played by Paula Patton
Jane Carter (Paula Patton) joins Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol‘s team as a woman on a mission. Angry and heartbroken, yet clear-headed, she’s driven to avenge the murder of her lover, fellow IMF agent Trevor Hanaway (Josh Holloway), by assassin Sabine Moreau (Léa Seydoux). Jane also feels responsible for Hanaway’s death, having been his handler.
Contrary to William Brandt’s (Jeremy Renner) accusations that Jane’s personal vendetta is sabotaging their mission, the team couldn’t have managed without her. Patton both holds her own and leads some of the fourth movie’s best action sequences, so it’s a shame she hasn’t returned. More than just an interchangeable woman who kicks ass, Patton establishes Jane as a distinct and entertaining personality, whether she’s irritated at having to play a seductress or kicking Sabine out a high-rise window.
6
William Brandt
Played by Jeremy Renner
Another character introduced in Ghost Protocol only to vanish after Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Brandt debuts as an IMF analyst who’s reluctant to return to field duty. He prefers to obey the rules, a methodology that, naturally, causes some emotional friction between him and Ethan, who might as well list “rule-breaker extraordinaire” on his spy resume.
But Brandt’s reservations aren’t because he’s a stick-in-the-mud. The IMF assigned him to Ethan and Julia’s protection detail, and he feels directly responsible for Julia’s apparent death. Once they avert a nuclear crisis, Ethan relieves Brandt’s guilt with the truth: the Hunts faked Julia’s death to keep her safe from his enemies. Even though he doesn’t see much field action in Rogue Nation, Brandt acts refreshed and refocused. But even when he’s guilt-stricken and risk-averse, the character is stubbornly loyal, endearingly sarcastic, and a great fighter in a pinch.
5
Solomon Lane
Played by Sean Harris
Not many Mission: Impossible villains live long enough to launch a comeback tour. Rogue Nation‘s baddie, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), defies that unspoken rule, circling back for Fallout to become Ethan’s first back-to-back antagonist. An ex-MI6 agent and the leader of the Syndicate, a mass terrorist organization comprised of agents who defected from various intelligence agencies, Lane’s goals for the world are simple: reduce it to a smoking crater where chaos and death reign.
Chillingly astute and skin-crawlingly intense, his detached sociopathy makes him persistently ruthless.
Bold enough to flaunt the Syndicate’s existence in Ethan’s face, Lane unsettles from his opening scene. Chillingly astute and skin-crawlingly intense, his detached sociopathy makes him persistently ruthless. Lane channels his bitterness about MI6 into anarchist destruction, since (in his mind) the organizations designed to protect the world are just another example of self-serving corruption. It’s no wonder Fallout pits him against Ethan once more; Harris’ marvelous performance — and the complexity Lane extracts from our hero — is too good to waste.
4
Benji Dunn
Played by Simon Pegg
Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), everyone’s favorite tech guy and one-third of the franchise’s core trio, has seen his share of growing pains during his transformation from a technician sitting at a desk all day into an amateur field agent staring unimaginable danger in the face. He’s rarely the most naturally courageous of Ethan’s found family, and that’s what makes him the bravest member and one of Mission: Impossible‘s most sincere, valuable, and steadfast emotional cornerstones.
As of The Final Reckoning, Benji has defied the odds by evolving into an enormously skilled agent, adding new specialties to his roster like they’re Pokémon. Playful, funny, carrying, loyal to a fault, and a friend first and foremost, Benji is often the only reason Ethan makes it out alive — even if it’s by the skin of his teeth. Appearing in every film since the third installment has given Pegg’s role time to grow, and it’s the best decision the franchise could’ve made.
3
Owen Davian
Played by Philip Seymour Hoffman
A traditional one-and-done villain for Mission: Impossible III who’s anything but, given the legacy he leaves. Arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) spends the entire movie searching for a MacGuffin known only as the Rabbit’s Foot. He’s motivated by greed, planning to sell the mystery device for a high profit. There’s no one he won’t blithely destroy to secure it, and he won’t feel a moment of regret.
The one thing he might regret is losing the chance to make Ethan’s life a living hell. But Davian promised to shatter the man to pieces, and he never breaks his promises. The late Hoffman establishes a brilliant throughline of terror from that wild opening scene and never releases his grip on that tension. He plays Davian as both coldly calculating and a power-grabber who finds mind games thoroughly satisfying. Devious, sadistic, and disdainful, Davian sets a nearly unreachable bar for every subsequent villain.
2
Ilsa Faust
Played by Rebecca Ferguson
Rest in peace to the GOAT. MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) becomes a recurring character after Rogue Nation. Convincing enough to infiltrate the Syndicate for a long-term undercover assignment, Ilsa skirts around Ethan’s team. She’s betrayed, trapped, and manipulated by MI6 but still a loyal agent at heart, yet also craves her freedom. MI6 and the IMF pit Ilsa and Ethan against one another as often as they ally — and in either scenario, Ilsa’s brazen skill forces Ethan to work harder than usual.
…Ilsa has richer layers than the action-oriented, male-led franchise has time to explore.
Objectively, Ilsa fits the bill of the elusive and mysterious femme fatale, a woman equally lethal and sexy. It’s a tired trope, but thanks to Ferguson’s icily competent performance, Ilsa emerges as an undeniable powerhouse. A superb hand-to-hand combatant, a crack shot with a sniper rifle, masterfully manipulative, and deeply moral, Ilsa has richer layers than the action-oriented, male-led franchise has time to explore. She’s a woman pulled in different directions, uncertain of her place, before briefly finding it with Ethan and the IMF. At least she goes out like a boss by protecting another woman from Gabriel.
1
Luther Stickell
Played by Ving Rhames
Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), the only character besides Ethan to appear in all eight installments, begins his journey in 1996 as a “disavowed” IMF agent hiding from his former employer. He allies with the likewise disavowed Ethan not out of nobility or kindness, but because he enjoys a challenging mission. Impressed by Ethan’s tenacity and sincerity, Luther quickly becomes the other man’s closest, dearest, and longest-running confidant.
Warm, witty, honest, selfless but self-aware, unshakably loyal, and cool as hell, the genius hacker and tech expert answers Ethan’s every request for help, which includes going above-and-beyond to protect Ethan’s loved ones, and keeping his fellow agent human. This is the best partner and support network you could ever want by your side, watching over your back, or guarding you from afar through a computer. And given how often Luther’s interventions let Ethan save the day, he deserves IMF commendations by the truckload. Although some movies underutilize him, Luther represents the best Mission: Impossible has to offer from the nail-biting thriller side, and he perfectly summarizes the series’ emotional core — the rare, unique blockbuster where relationships matter even more than the action. No one could ask for a better agent or a better friend.
