Warning! There will be spoilers for Mission: Impossible: Death Worth, Part One.
Synopsis: Simon Pegg comments on the possible death of his character Benji in a future Mission: Impossible episode, acknowledging that no one is safe. Ilsa’s death in Mission: Impossible 7 sets a new precedent for the series, as she was a well-established and beloved character. Ilsa’s death means that anyone, including Benjy, Luther, or a new member of Team Grace, could potentially die in future films as well.
Mission: Impossible: Death Wages Part One star Simon Pegg reacts to the possibility that Benji could die in a future episode of the series. In the latest installment in Christopher McQuarrie’s series regular, the latest installment in a long-running action series, Tom Cruise returns as spy Ethan Hunt to face a dangerous AI threat and its human emissary. Hunt is joined, as always, by a trusted team of new and old companions, including Benji, the tech genius turned field agent played by Pegg.
Now, after Ilsa’s shocking death in Mission: Impossible: The Wage of Death Part One, Pegg comments on Benji’s possible disappearance in a recent CinemaBlend interview (conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike). First appearing in 2006’s Mission: Impossible 3, Pegg has been a mainstay of the series for longer than Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa, but the actor makes it clear that even Benji isn’t immune to death in a future film. Here is Pegg’s full comment:
“As Luther says, we are not as important as the mission, and any of us could face the end at any moment. And if that happened, I would be sad. You know, I lived with Benji… I mean, wait, who said that doesn’t happen? But I would be sad. He has been in my life for 17 years. I watched him, I was him, growing up, becoming a more mature agent, and you know, their life is tragic in a way.
How Dead Reckoning Part One sets a new precedent for the series
During the first six Mission: Impossible films, Ethan had several people on his team. In the first movie, after famously killing Ethan’s entire crew in the first act, he links him to Luther (Ving Rhames), now the longest-running supporting character in the series. Mission: Impossible 3 is about the death of Ethan’s protégé, but viewers aren’t given enough time to warm up to their relationship.
In 2015, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation introduces Ilsa, who eventually becomes Ethan’s ally. It is in this film that the tone is mainly set and the main secondary characters, which will also continue in Mission: Impossible: Fallout and the last part of the series. So Ilsa’s death in Mission: Impossible 7 really sets a precedent for the series due to its sheer popularity and importance.
Given McQuarrie’s recent statements about the importance of Ilsa’s death in terms of how he presents Gabriel (Esai Morales) and The Entity as the biggest threats Ethan has faced so far, it seems like his death is final. If Ilsa can die, obviously others can too, including Benji, Luther, or even the newest member of Grace’s team (Hayley Atwell). It seems unlikely that the Mission: Impossible: Death Wage Part One sequel will have another main character killed so soon, but it’s definitely a possibility in any future film now.
Source: CinemaBlend
Key release dates:
– Mission: Impossible – Paying for Death Part Two: June 28, 2024