Ethan Hunt

Last updated
Ethan Hunt
Mission: Impossible character
Ethan Hunt MI.jpg
Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in the first film.
First appearance Mission: Impossible (1996)
Created by
Portrayed by Tom Cruise
Voiced by
In-universe information
Full nameEthan Matthew Hunt
Occupation
Spouse
Julia "Jules" Meade
​
​
(m. 2006;div. 2011)​
Relatives
  • Margaret Ethan-Hunt (mother)
  • Nathan Hunt (father; deceased)
  • Donald Hunt (uncle)
NationalityAmerican
EducationThe John Warner School

Ethan Matthew Hunt is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Mission: Impossible film series. He is portrayed by Tom Cruise. The character of Ethan Hunt is a highly skilled field agent and operative for the Impossible Mission Force (IMF), a secret government agency that handles dangerous and high-stakes missions.

Contents

Appearances

Mission: Impossible (1996)

In the first film, Hunt acts as the IMF point man for an experienced field team led by veteran Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), his mentor. While attempting to prevent files containing information on all IMF's field agents from being stolen during a mission in Prague, nearly the entire team, except Hunt, are killed, and the files are stolen. Hunt is seen as the main suspect as he learns that the mission was a set-up to expose a mole who had been selling secrets to an arms dealer called Max (Vanessa Redgrave); the real files are still secure at CIA headquarters in Langley. Hunt decides to steal the actual list himself for the arms dealer in exchange for a meeting with the actual mole and $10,000,000 in bearer bonds. He recruits a team of other disavowed agents such as hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), pilot Franz Krieger (Jean Reno), and Jim's wife Claire (Emmanuelle Béart), the only other survivor of the mission in Prague, to help him break into CIA headquarters in order to steal the genuine list in exchange for an introduction to the real mole, which he successfully does. Ethan later finds Jim alive and deduces that he is the real mole, working with Claire and Krieger to escape with the money and frame Ethan for their crimes. In a final confrontation aboard a TGV train in the Channel Tunnel, Claire is killed when she tries to protect Ethan, as Ethan clears his name by stopping Phelps and Krieger before they are able to escape with the money and by securing the list. Ethan gets Luther reinstated as an IMF agent and considers leaving the IMF, but is offered a mission of his own during the flight home.

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

In the second film, Hunt is tasked with retrieving a deadly genetically engineered virus, known as "Chimera", from a rogue IMF agent, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), who intends to release the virus after acquiring a controlling influence on the company that created it so that he can profit from sales of the cure. Hunt attempts to infiltrate Ambrose's inner circle through Ambrose's former girlfriend, Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandiwe Newton), an accomplished thief. During their mission, Hunt and Nordoff-Hall engage in an affair that complicates the mission. At the climax, Nordoff-Hall is forced to infect herself with the last virus in order to save Hunt; with Hunt having destroyed the only other traces of the virus, she was thus able to shield Hunt until he could escape. Subsequently, racing against time—the virus is incurable twenty hours after infection—Hunt manages to acquire the cure and is forced to kill Ambrose.

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

In the third film, Hunt is now a semi-retired training officer for IMF and plans a quiet life with his fiancée Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan), who does not know about the IMF. He is called back into service to rescue a former student called Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell) who was captured during a mission in Germany, and recovers confidential information via a stolen laptop. He is forced to once again go rogue in an attempt to track down the sadistic arms dealer, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and secure a dangerous mystery item known as the 'Rabbit's Foot'. After an impromptu ceremony, Hunt and Julia are married, only for Owen, who has a double agent working within IMF, to kidnap Julia. With the help of his IMF team: Stickell, Declan Gormley (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), and Zhen Lei (Maggie Q), Hunt finds the Rabbit's foot, saves his wife, and kills Owen Davian in Shanghai.

The sixth film of the series, Mission: Impossible – Fallout , confirms that Ethan and Julia were happy for a while, but their marriage was tainted every time they heard about a disaster due to Ethan's potential to prevent them from happening.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

In the fourth film, Hunt—having just escaped from a deep-cover mission in prison—and his IMF team, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) & Jane Carter (Paula Patton), are blamed for an attack that destroys the Kremlin, resulting in the disavowal of the entire IMF. Despite lacking their usual resources, connections, technology, and backup, their mission is to find and stop Kurt Hendricks/Cobalt (Michael Nyqvist), a former Soviet nuclear strategist who is intent on starting a nuclear war to usher in the next era of human evolution. As they chase Hendricks to Dubai and on to Mumbai, India, they themselves are pursued by a team of Russian agents trying to apprehend them. The team becomes increasingly fractured as individual members fight their own demons while trying to trust the others. Hunt manages to pull the team together, stop a nuclear bomb and clear the IMF of any involvement in the Kremlin attack. It is also revealed that Hunt had Julia's death faked to protect her, something only he and the IMF Secretary knew about, giving him the pretext to infiltrate the prison his team freed him from in the opening scene.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

In the fifth film, Hunt is assigned a mission that culminates in him hanging outside of an A400M military aircraft 5,000 feet above the ground in Belarus to recover a package that contains VX nerve gas. Although this mission succeeds, when he learns that the thieves responsible for stealing the gas lacked the connections to do so, Hunt begins to uncover evidence of the existence of the Syndicate, a consortium of covert operatives who wreak terrorist attacks worldwide. After Hunt is forced to go off-the-grid when he is nearly killed by a Syndicate operative and the IMF is disbanded and absorbed into the CIA due to its controversial and destructive methods, he spends six months trying to track the Syndicate. Eventually, he and his former team (Benji Dunn, William Brandt, and Luther Stickell) along with MI-6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) learn that the Syndicate was actually originally a British project to perform missions without oversight, but British agent Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) took the plans and went rogue, now seeking to steal files that would grant him access to various established bank accounts to finance future Syndicate operations. Refusing to allow the Syndicate to continue, Hunt and his team are able to capture Lane, with CIA Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) subsequently forced to claim that the disbanding of IMF was a cover to allow them to track the Syndicate.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

In the sixth film, an IMF mission goes wrong when Ethan chooses to save Luther after the latter is taken hostage, allowing a splinter group of the Syndicate, known as the Apostles, to gain access to three plutonium cores that could be used to create nuclear weapons. Forced to work with CIA agent August Walker (Henry Cavill), Ethan is able to assume the identity of Apostle contact John Lark (Liang Yang) and acquire one of the cores in exchange for breaking Solomon Lane out of prison – despite opposition from Ilsa Faust, now under orders to kill Lane or bring him back to Britain – but he, Luther and Benji later use Lane to trick Walker into revealing that he is Lark. When the IMF Secretary Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) is killed by Walker, Ethan's team and Ilsa track Walker and Lane to a medical aid camp where Julia, Ethan's former wife, is currently working, Ethan realizing that Lane and Walker intend to detonate the bombs there for both the personal reason of hurting Ethan and the wider-scale reason that such a nuclear detonation would contaminate the water supply for almost a third of the world's population. While Luther, Julia, Benji and Ilsa disable the bombs and confront Lane, Ethan is forced to steal a helicopter that he doesn't know how to fly to pursue Walker and acquire the bomb detonator, culminating in a desperate struggle on a steep cliff that ends with Walker thrown off the cliff along with the helicopter. With the crisis concluded, Ethan's reputation and the reputation of the IMF is redeemed in the eyes of the CIA, who muse that Ethan's focus on individual lives is important for his superiors as it allows them to focus on the biggest picture.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

In the seventh film, Hunt tries to track down a pair of keys that could help take down a rogue artificial intelligence known as The Entity. In the process he confronts Gabriel, a terrorist in allegiance with the Entity, whose was also responsible for the murder of Hunt's girlfriend Marie which led Hunt to become an IMF agent.

Video games

Aside from the Mission: Impossible films, Ethan Hunt has appeared in the 1998 video game based on the first film, voiced by Kevin Bayliss, and the 2003 video game Mission: Impossible – Operation Surma , voiced by Steve Blum. He also appears as a playable character in the crossover game Lego Dimensions , with archive recordings of Tom Cruise being used for his voice.

Reception

Vlad Dima, writing in Bright Lights Film Journal , said while the series succeeds due to "inventive, over-the-top stunts, the relentless trickery, and ultimately... Tom Cruise's star-power", he said, "One less obvious element, though, is a myth that slowly develops over the span of the series and comes to full bloom in Fallout... [is Ethan] Hunt's eternal quest... to become the perfect man." Dima said Ethan Hunt "comes from a long line of action heroes" and that the character (and the films) have become more like James Bond and Jason Bourne. Hunt "erases all of the weaknesses we have ever noticed in any of these screen heroes". He is unlike Bourne in knowing his status as "a good guy" and unlike Bond in not womanizing, having cared about only two women. Dima said, "This personal detail seems to be an important requirement in the mythology of the perfect man." [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Mission: Impossible</i> (1966 TV series) U.S. television series (1966–1973)

Mission: Impossible is an American espionage television series that aired on CBS from September 1966 to March 1973. It was revived in 1988 for two seasons on ABC. It also inspired the series of theatrical motion pictures starring Tom Cruise beginning in 1996.

<i>Topkapi</i> (film) 1964 American film directed by Jules Dassin

Topkapi is a 1964 American Technicolor heist film produced by Filmways Pictures and distributed by United Artists.

<i>Mission: Impossible 2</i> 2000 film by John Woo

Mission: Impossible 2 is a 2000 action spy film directed by John Woo and produced by and starring Tom Cruise. It is the sequel to Mission: Impossible (1996) and the second installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. The film also stars Dougray Scott, Thandiwe Newton, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Šerbedžija and Ving Rhames. In the film, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) teams with professional thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Newton) to find but not destroy a genetically modified disease held by rogue Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent Sean Ambrose (Scott), who is Nordoff-Hall's former lover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ving Rhames</span> American actor (born 1959)

Irving Rameses Rhames is an American actor. He is known for his roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in all Mission: Impossible films (1996–present) and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction (1994).

<i>Mission: Impossible</i> (film) 1996 film directed by Brian De Palma

Mission: Impossible is a 1996 American action spy film directed by Brian De Palma and produced by and starring Tom Cruise from a screenplay by David Koepp and Robert Towne and story by Koepp and Steven Zaillian. A continuation of the 1966 television series of the same name and its 1988 sequel series, it is the first installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. It also stars Jon Voight, Henry Czerny, Emmanuelle Béart, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Vanessa Redgrave. In the film, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) seeks to uncover who framed him for the murders of most of his Impossible Missions Force (IMF) team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David North (character)</span> Mutant comic book character

David North is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was originally known as Maverick, and more recently as Agent Zero. The character first appeared in X-Men #5 and was created by writer John Byrne and co-writer/artist Jim Lee.

<i>Mission: Impossible III</i> 2006 film by J. J. Abrams

Mission: Impossible III is a 2006 American action spy film directed by J. J. Abrams and produced by and starring Tom Cruise, from a screenplay by Abrams and the writing team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. It is the sequel to Mission: Impossible (1996) and Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) and the third installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. It also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Crudup, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Maggie Q and Laurence Fishburne. In Mission: Impossible III, retired Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agent and trainer Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is forced to return to active duty to capture elusive arms dealer Owen Davian (Hoffman).

<i>Mission: Impossible</i> (1998 video game) 1998 video game

Mission: Impossible is an action-adventure video game developed by Infogrames and loosely based on the 1996 film of the same name. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 video game console in 1998. In the game, the player assumes the role of Ethan Hunt, an Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent who must clear his name after a mole has infiltrated the IMF team. The game features 20 levels where the player must complete several mission objectives with the use of numerous high-tech gadgets.

<i>Mission: Impossible – Operation Surma</i> 2003 video game

Mission: Impossible – Operation Surma is an action-adventure stealth video game developed by Paradigm Entertainment and published by Atari for Game Boy Advance, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. The game takes place between Mission: Impossible 2 and Mission: Impossible III.

<i>Mission: Impossible</i> (1988 TV series) Television series 1988

Mission: Impossible is an American television series that chronicles the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The show is a continuation of the 1966–1973 TV series of the same name. The only actor to return for the series as a regular cast member was Peter Graves who played Jim Phelps, although two other cast members from the original series returned as guest stars. The only other regular cast member (unseen) to return for every episode was the voice of "The Tape", Bob Johnson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luther Stickell</span> Fictional character

Luther Stickell is a fictional character in the Mission: Impossible film series who first appeared in the 1996 film Mission: Impossible and is the only character besides Ethan Hunt to appear in every film to date.

Mission: Impossible is a series of American action spy films, based on the 1966 TV series created by Bruce Geller. The series is mainly produced by and stars Tom Cruise, who plays Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The films have been directed, written, and scored by various filmmakers and crew, while incorporating musical themes from the original series by Lalo Schifrin.

<i>Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol</i> 2011 American film by Brad Bird

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is a 2011 American action spy film directed by Brad Bird from a screenplay by the writing team of Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, who also serve as co-producers. Produced by Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, it is the sequel to Mission: Impossible III (2006) and is the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. The film stars Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Paula Patton, with Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Josh Holloway, Anil Kapoor, and Léa Seydoux in supporting roles. In the film, the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) is shut down after being publicly implicated in a bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team to go without resources or backup in a life-threatening effort to clear their names.

<i>Johnny English Reborn</i> 2011 spy action comedy film by Oliver Parker

Johnny English Reborn is a 2011 spy action comedy film directed by Oliver Parker and written by Hamish McColl from a story by William Davies. A sequel to Johnny English (2003) and the second instalment in the Johnny English series, it is a British-American venture produced by StudioCanal, Relativity Media and Working Title Films, and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film stars Rowan Atkinson alongside Gillian Anderson, Dominic West, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Kaluuya and Richard Schiff as new characters.

<i>Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation</i> 2015 American action spy film directed by Christopher McQuarrie

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a 2015 American action spy film written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie from a story by McQuarrie and Drew Pearce. It is the sequel to Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) and the fifth installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. It stars Tom Cruise in the main role, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris and Alec Baldwin. It follows Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team, who, subsequent to their disbandment and Hunt's pursuit by the Central Intelligence Agency, must surreptitiously fight The Syndicate, an international black ops terrorist group of rogue government agents from around the world.

<i>Mission: Impossible – Fallout</i> 2018 film by Christopher McQuarrie

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a 2018 American action spy film written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie. The sequel to Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), it is the sixth installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. The ensemble cast comprises Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monaghan, and Alec Baldwin. Set two years after the events of Rogue Nation, Fallout follows Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team in their efforts to prevent a nuclear attack by terrorist Solomon Lane and the mysterious extremist John Lark.

<i>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One</i> 2023 film by Christopher McQuarrie

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a 2023 American spy action film directed by Christopher McQuarrie from a screenplay he co-wrote with Erik Jendresen. It is the sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and the seventh installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. It stars Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, alongside an ensemble cast including Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, and Henry Czerny. In the film, Hunt and his IMF team face off against "the Entity", a powerful rogue AI.

The untitled eighth Mission: Impossible film is an upcoming American spy action film directed by Christopher McQuarrie from a screenplay he co-wrote with Erik Jendresen. It is the direct sequel to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023) and the eighth installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. Tom Cruise returns in his eighth appearance as the series' lead character, Ethan Hunt, whom he will have portrayed over a period of 29 years at the time of the film's release. Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham, and Pom Klementieff all reprise their roles from previous films in the series.

References

  1. ↑ "Game Credits - Kevin Bayliss - GameFAQs".
  2. ↑ Dima, Vlad (August 17, 2018). "Holding On: Mission: Impossible and the Myth of the Perfect Man". Bright Lights Film Journal . Retrieved February 7, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.