Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will bring back Ethan Hunt’s old nemesis Kittridge, though he almost had an underwhelming Fallout cameo.
Followers of the Mission: Impossible franchise are happy to see the return of Ethan Hunt’s old nemesis Kittridge (Henry Czerny), but his planned cameo in Fallout would have undercut his return. While he’s firmly established as an action star now, Tom Cruise wasn’t so closely linked to the genre early in his career. Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, Cruise jumped around genres, including fantasy (Ridley Scott’s Legend), drama (Rain Man) or even horror (Interview With The Vampire). Mission: Impossible saw Cruise attempt to build a franchise for himself, with the revival of the classic ’60s TV series casting him as IMF agent Ethan Hunt.
The original was helmed by Brian De Palma, who brought his trademark visual flair to the project. While the first entry had some great action, it was still more of a spy thriller. The original brief of the Mission: Impossible franchise was that each entry would have a filmmaker with a unique style, with action auteur John Woo helming the second movie while J.J. Abrams made his directorial debut with 2006’s Mission: Impossible III. The series is one of the rare examples of a franchise that (arguably) gets better with each outing, even more so since Christopher McQuarrie directed the fifth and sixth movies.
McQuarrie also returned to helm the upcoming seventh entry Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and its planned sequel. Adding to the excitement for long-time followers of the series is the return of Kittridge (Henry Czerny), who was the IMF director in the original movie. Kittridge suspected Hunt of being a mole following the death of his entire team and ruthlessly pursued him until Hunt cleared his name in the finale. While not quite a true villain, Kittridge was one of Hunt’s most memorable foes, and his return for Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One promises great things. However, a planned gimmick cameo for the character in 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout would have undercut his return.
During post-production on Mission: Impossible – Fallout, McQuarrie added his own voice to the IMF briefing that introduces Hunt to his new mission. McQuarrie considered other performers to perform this exposition dump, including Alec Baldwin’s Hunley. According to an interview with the Empire podcast, another idea was to have Czerny reprise his role as Kittridge, but considering how much fans have looked forward to his eventual return, this would have been very underwhelming.
Had Kittridge broke his 20-year absence just to perform a mission briefing, it would have been little more than a gimmick or easter egg. As one of Hunt’s best antagonists, he deserved a meatier comeback, which thankfully appears to be the case with his Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning (where Jeremy Renner may also return) role. Just how big a part he’ll play has yet to be determined, but McQuarrie himself is a fan of the series and considering he’s the one who decided Kittridge’s vocal cameo was a bad idea, the director will no doubt make sure the character leaves a major impact.
Source: screenrant
