This mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find out the spoiler-free answer as to whether you need to stay through the credits.
Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and while his latest adventure is the longest entry in the franchise to date, coming in at two hours and 43 minutes, you won’t have to wait for an end-credits or scene. No Mission: Impossible film has ever had an end credits scene, so Dead Reckoning Part One keeps that tradition intact, despite this one instance where a post-credit scene might have been appropriate, as this is the first part of a two-part adventure.
Since Iron Man started making post-credit scenes more popular in 2008, they have become more commonplace in big summer movie blockbusters, especially in sequels. However, director and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie continues to embrace the lack of an end-credits scene with his third entry in the film franchise. While this is a two-part adventure, and there is no end-credit sequence, it’s clear that Ethan Hunt’s mission will continue in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.
Should Mission: Impossible Movies Have End Credit Scenes?
The first theatrical Mission: Impossible film starring Cruise in 1996 was a major turning point for modern Hollywood blockbusters. The first film, directed by Brian de Palma, mixed a more traditional spy-thriller style with cutting-edge visual effects, stunts, and action setpieces. The later films continued to up the ante in terms of their stunts and action sequences, making the Mission: Impossible films the epitome of slick popcorn action movie blockbusters. McQuarrie’s entries share a good balance between traditional, spy-movie thrills and the more modern-looking action and stunts. His directing style evokes a familiarity to spy thrillers and action movies of the 1960s and 70s, such as Bullitt and Dirty Harry, and his action is always magnificently framed, immersing the audience in the spy world of Ethan Hunt and showcasing the amazing stunts with minimal cuts or frustrating, shaky cam presentational elements.
With that in mind, it makes sense that there isn’t type of any tease or end-credit sequence for Dead Reckoning Part One. The film is already an incredibly long movie at nearly three hours. McQuarrie rewards the audience by putting all the material before the ending credits, so the audience is free to leave by that point. While Dead Reckoning Part One is an overly long experience, even as the first part of a larger story, it plays in a fulfilling manner, so the lack of an end-credit scene does not feel like a cheat or necessary when it comes to the case of the film. It hues to the more traditional spy-thriller elements and maintains the previous standards set by the Mission: Impossible film franchise. Dead Reckoning Part One was long enough and didn’t need an end-credit scene. The movie works better without one.
The same holds true for the other Mission: Impossible films since they are self-contained spy thrillers, and there would be no reason to add a teaser to an upcoming sequel. McQuarrie essentially figured out a way to provide a complete experience that will ideally leave audiences fulfilled, but still excited and intrigued for the next installment. Although Dead Reckoning is a two-part event, it presents an exciting balance that the previous two-part blockbuster movie events failed to reach in the past. As a result, Dead Reckoning Part One follows the beat of its own drum with its ending, doing things in its own unique way rather than following the format of what has come before. Similarly, the sequel avoids adding an end-credit or stinger sequence, avoiding a change to more modern cinematic blockbuster expectations that like to heavily sequel-bait for future installments with end-credit sequences.
The lack of an end-credit sequence is not surprising because McQuarrie has never included them in his films. Dead Reckoning Part One was his fourth entry directing Cruise, having directed him in Jack Reacher, Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation, and Mission: Impossible – Fallout. They will also re-team once more for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two. Additionally, McQuarrie has served as a screenwriter of other Cruise projects, such as Valkyrie, Edge of Tomorrow, The Mummy, and last year’s global box office smash, Top Gun: Maverick. Coincidentally, none of those other Cruise films have end-credit scenes either. So, it’s something that’s typically avoided in both the credited works of Cruise and McQuarrie.
Ethan Hunt’s Mission Continues
Despite the lack of any type of end-credit scene, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is still a memorable, exciting summer action movie experience. While the plot has issues, and the movie runs incredibly long, the action scenes and stunts are some of the best in the franchise to date. Cruise is still as entertaining as ever, and the rest of the cast continues to exhibit great onscreen chemistry.
Considering that the crew of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning is currently hard at work on finishing Dead Reckoning Part Two, it’s not exactly a giant spoiler to say that Ethan Hunt’s mission will continue in the next film. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two marks the landmark eighth entry in the franchise, a rare feat for any film series. One could arguably assume that eight movies and a giant two-part adventure would be the best way to give the franchise a proper sendoff and ending, but that may not be the case.
Cruise stated during an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald that he’d like to keep making Mission: Impossible movies until he’s Harrison Ford’s age, stating, “Harrison Ford is a legend; I hope to be still going; I’ve got 20 years to catch up with him,” adding, “I hope to keep making Mission: Impossible films until I’m his age.” Ford most recently returned to the role of Indiana Jones at the ripe age of 80 in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which is out now in theaters. Even at 61 years old, Tom Cruise shows no signs of slowing down. So, it raises the possibility that the franchise may continue even after Dead Reckoning Part Two has concluded.
Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One is out now in theaters. Dead Reckoning Part Two arrives for theatrical release on June 28, 2024.