Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Super Bowl Trailer: Tom Cruise's Grand Finale Arrives With A Bang

"Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning" was a bit of a disappointment. As Chris Evangelista put it in his /Film review, the film felt like it was "cobbled together in between big set pieces." Its biggest sin (other than killing off a certain fan-favorite character) was making the story come across as barely stitched together between set pieces, which is never a good sign.

Now, whether it is the actual final film in the franchise or not, "Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning" is at the very least a movie with higher stakes than any "Mission: Impossible" movie before it. In case you need a reminder, "Dead Reckoning" ended on a big cliffhanger. The human villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) got away, leaving Ethan Hunt and his team scrambling and on a race against the clock to find a sunken submarine and use a mysterious and convoluted key to stop the evil A.I. known as the Entity from destroying the world.

The new Super Bowl trailer for "Mission Impossible — The Final Reckoning" promises a nostalgic finale tying together threads from as far back as the very first "Mission: Impossible." We saw the return of Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge, as well as Rolf Saxon's William Donloe, in "Dead Reckoning." Now, "The Final Reckoning" is bringing back Angela Bassett as CIA director Erika Sloane last seen in "Fallout." Most intriguing, however, is the return of the biological weapon known as the Rabbit's Foot from "Mission: Impossible III."

The trailer starts off with very wide, narrow screen, one that gradually grows taller as the intensity continues. "Everything you are, everything you've done, has come to this," we hear in a voiceover, as the trailer shows us a montage of insane scenes from previous franchise installments. "I need you to trust me," Hunt says, and right after we see a clip of him hanging onto a flying plane in typical Cruise fashion. 

"One last time," Cruise says, and it's almost hard to believe he actually means it. This might very well be the final "Mission Impossible" film of our lifetimes, and this trailer promises the series will go out with a bang. But the biggest surprise is the trailer's brief glimpse of Pom Klementieff's character, Paris, beating up some guards, grabbing a gun, and striking up a lethal pose. Paris was a standout character in "Dead Reckoning: Part One" thanks to her unpredictable, fun, reckless ways, and hopefully this time she'll be back as Hunt's friend, not foe, especially since she was betrayed in the previous movie, and Ethan showed her mercy.

Whatever happens, hopefully it offers the satisfying conclusion the last "Mission Impossible" film sadly lacked. Fans will be able to see for themselves when the movie lands in theaters May 23, 2025.