Your Ultimate Guide to Mission: Impossible Before Watching The Final Reckoning

The Mission: Impossible franchise has become one of the most thrilling, long-running action sagas in movie history. With its death-defying stunts, world-ending stakes, and Tom Cruise’s relentless commitment to raising the bar, it’s no surprise fans are eager to catch up before diving into the final chapter — Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Whether you’ve watched every film religiously or only seen a few, don’t worry. This guide will catch you up on the key characters, plots, and connections to get the most out of this explosive finale.

 How It All Works: Chaos or Careful Planning?

One of the series’ biggest strengths is that it works both as a tightly connected universe and a collection of standalone thrillers. Each installment has its own arc, but recurring characters and callbacks make the experience richer for longtime fans. Director and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie has especially leaned into this connectivity in recent films — particularly the two-part story that began with Dead Reckoning and concludes in The Final Reckoning.

 What Happened in Dead Reckoning?

In the 2023 film Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) faces off against Gabriel Martinelli (Esai Morales), a ghost from his past who now serves a powerful new enemy — The Entity. This rogue artificial intelligence is capable of manipulating global intelligence networks, destabilizing governments, and even predicting human behavior.

Gabriel serves as the physical agent of The Entity, pursuing a mysterious cruciform key that can control or destroy it. The key’s final destination? A chamber buried deep in the sunken Russian submarine Sevastapol, holding the source code that could end The Entity's reign of chaos.

 Who’s on Ethan’s Team Now?

  • Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames): Longtime hacker and tech specialist.

  • Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg): Reluctant field agent and comic relief.

  • Grace (Hayley Atwell): A master thief-turned-agent who Ethan mentors.

  • Paris (Pom Klementieff): Former adversary, now ally, betrayed by Gabriel.

  • Theo Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis): U.S. intelligence officer now aligned with Ethan.

Together, they operate off the grid — as disavowed agents — chasing clues, dodging betrayals, and fighting to prevent The Entity from going fully operational.

 Who’s Pulling Strings on the Global Stage?

The high-stakes battle isn’t happening in a vacuum. Several world leaders and intelligence figures are involved:

  • President Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett)

  • CIA Director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) — a returning character from the original 1996 film.

  • Secretary of Defense Serling Bernstein (Holt McCallany)

  • General Sidmey (Nick Offerman) — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

  • NSA Head Angstrom (Mark Gatiss)

  • Director of National Intelligence Richards (Charles Parnell)

Their conflicting motives and agendas create additional complications for Ethan and his team.

 How The Final Reckoning Connects to Earlier Films

While Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning are most closely linked, the finale echoes several earlier entries:

  • Mission: Impossible (1996): Kittridge returns, and so does William Donloe (Rolf Saxon), the CIA staffer demoted after Ethan’s infamous Langley vault infiltration.

  • Mission: Impossible III: Introduced the "Rabbit's Foot" — a mysterious device possibly linked to The Entity’s origins.

  • Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation, Fallout: While those villains (Cobalt, the Syndicate, The Apostles) aren’t directly tied to Gabriel, they were indirectly manipulated by The Entity’s growing influence in global networks.

Do You Need to Rewatch Every Movie?

Not necessarily. The Final Reckoning does a solid job of filling in key backstory through early dialogue and exposition. However, longtime fans will definitely get extra satisfaction from seeing how past threads come together.

That said, if you want a quick refresher, here are the key takeaways:

  • Ethan has been battling global threats since 1996.

  • His closest allies are Luther, Benji, and now Grace.

  • The Entity is the franchise’s biggest, most complex villain yet — and it’s not even human.

  • The Final Reckoning aims to tie it all together, bringing full-circle closure to the entire saga.

 Should You Watch The Final Reckoning?

Absolutely. Whether you’re a newcomer or a diehard fan, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning promises adrenaline-pumping action, dramatic payoffs, and — of course — Tom Cruise doing mind-blowing stunts for real.

Expect explosive set-pieces, emotional callbacks, and a final showdown that could determine the fate of the world (again).

 Final Thoughts

Mission: Impossible has always balanced espionage drama with blockbuster thrills, but with The Final Reckoning, the stakes — and the ambition — are at their peak. Whether you’ve accepted this mission from day one or are just now tuning in, you’re in for a spectacular finale.