Both 'Mission: Impossible' Sequels Bringing Back Henry Czerny As Kittridge From The First Movie

Just when you thought the cast of the upcoming back-to-back Mission: Impossible sequels couldn't get any better, director Christopher McQuarrie digs back into the past for a real stunner.

In the original Mission: Impossible, agent Ethan Hunt was framed as a mole in the IMF, and he was pursued aggressively by agency director Eugene Kittridge. He was quite a ruthless character, but only to enemies of the IMF, and once Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) was revealed to be the real mole, all was forgiven. However, something from the past will be bubbling to the surface in the upcoming Mission: Impossible sequels, because Henry Czerny is returning as Kittridge in both of the upcoming movies.

Here's what Mission: Impossible – Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie posted on Twitter on Saturday morning:

Unless you've been watching television shows like Revenge, Quantico, Supergirl, and many more shows, you likely haven't seen Henry Czerny around much. But last year, he was the patriarch of the deadly family at the center of the dark comedic thriller Ready or Not. Czerny has a quietly intimidating presence on-screen, and bringing him back for the seventh and eighth installments of this franchise is an exciting prospect.

Czerny joins a cast that has also added Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 co-star Pom Klementieff, and Captain America franchise star Hayley Atwell, the latter of which actually shared the small screen with Whigham in the Marvel spin-off series Agent Carter. Other new additions also include Shea Whigham and Nicholas Hoult.

As for returning cast members, we've got Rebecca Ferguson and Simon Pegg returning alongside Tom Cruise, all back as our core crew. Ving Rhames has yet to be officially confirmed, but we can't imagine he'll be sitting these sequels out. Besides Tom Cruise, he's the only cast member who has appeared in every single Mission: Impossible movie.

If Christopher McQuarrie is digging back into the past, whatever happens in the next two sequels is likely going to be the biggest challenge the IMF has ever seen. Could any more familiar faces be returning from the past?

Mission: Impossible 7 is set for release on July 23, 2021, arriving 25 years after the original movie that launched the franchise, and Mission: Impossible 8 will arrive a little over a year later on August 5, 2022