Can Mission: Impossible Survive Without Tom Cruise?

https://dejareviewer.com/2019/09/03/can-mission-impossible-survive-without-tom-cruise/

I’m old enough to remember a time when the idea of Mission: Impossible being a Tom Cruise action vehicle was as outlandish as James Cameron directing a courtroom drama. Such a thing just seemed to be outside the realm of the possible. Hm. Maybe that was the point. It seemed like an impossible mission to transform Tom Cruise from a dramatic actor into an action star, but that 1996 movie (and its sequels) sure pulled it off.

Now I have to ask: can Mission: Impossible survive without Tom Cruise?

I personally never watched the original Mission: Impossible TV series or the revival in the late ‘80s. But my dad was a big fan of them. So I knew that Jim Phelps should be the main character, and he should work with a crack team of spies to pull off difficult missions. The first Mission: Impossible film flipped that idea on its head, making Phelps the villain and introducing us to a new character named Ethan Hunt. There was still a teamwork mentality throughout the film, but it was Ethan calling the shots most of the time.

From there, it’s pretty much been the Tom Cruise show. People come to each follow-up film wondering what crazy stunt the actor is going to perform in his quest to constantly one-up himself in the death-defying department. Sure, many talented directors have been brought on board to leave their unique mark on each of the films in the series. But does anyone really care which one was directed by Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird, or Christopher McQuarrie? I doubt it. Instead, we remember each film based on the incredible stunts performed in them.

In other words, Tom Cruise (and his daredevil attitude) is the real star of the show and has been for the last 23 years. That’s nearly the same length of time from the beginning of the original TV series to the end of its revival, 1966-1990. Cruise isn’t going to live forever. He’s going to have to pass the torch eventually, but at this point is that even possible?

In its current iteration, I don’t think it would work to simply replace Tom Cruise with another actor. There would have to be a fundamental change in what audiences expect from the series. Let’s go through some examples of successful and failed attempts to pass the torch to get a sense for whether or not this would work for Mission: Impossible.