While Brian De Palma‘s original “Mission: Impossible” movie has, over time, come to be appreciated as its own unique entry into the franchise, it’s hard not to notice how the new movies still stick to De Palma’s design. One of my favorite carryovers is the maybe-traitor who turns out to be a good guy all along. This archetype was established with Henry Czerny‘s Eugene Kittridge in the first film, and it’s a narrative device that the movies have used to great effect with both Laurence Fishburne and Alec Baldwin.
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But now, it appears that the man who started it all is coming home. Earlier today, director Christopher McQuarrie announced the return of Henry Czerny to the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise. Based on the hashtag the director used – which is a real phrase real journalists find themselves writing in 2020 – it appears that Czerny will feature in both of McQuarrie’s planned sequels.
Given McQuarrie’s message, it’s safe to assume that Czerny will be once more playing the character of Kittridge, raising questions as to how he will mish the disparate threads of his film together with those of De Palma. Then again, the ‘Mission: Impossible’ movies have always felt like a puzzle, as much for the way the elements piece together as for their narrative twists and turns. Seeing how McQuarrie incorporates an original cast member will be half the fun.
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For his part, Czerny is building off two powerful performances from the past two years – one as patriarch Alan Crellin in HBO‘s “Sharp Objects” adaptation, the other as, well, patriarch Tony Le Domas in “Ready or Not.” Czerny has long been a rock-solid character actor for film and television shows. As always, it’s fascinating to see which actors make the leap to elder statesman once they hit their sixties, and Czerny’s ascension is much-deserved.