Superman is a spy! Well, maybe. Henry Cavill, who dons the cape in the DCEU, has joined the cast of Mission: Impossible 6, marking a crazy exciting addition to that ensemble. This is actually coming full circle in a way—Tom Cruise was initially set to star in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. opposite Armie Hammer. But when Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation required his attention, Cruise was forced to drop out of U.N.C.L.E. so he could help get Rogue Nation ready to shoot, and Cavill subsequently signed on as his replacement. Now, however, it appears that Cruise is keen on working with Cavill, and he’s becoming part of the Mission: Impossible fold for the untitled sixth installment.
News of Cavill’s casting actually broke on Instagram via writer/director Christopher McQuarrie, who shared the below photo and subsequently carried on a conversation with Cavill in the comments.
Say, @henrycavill. Had a thought. Curious if you're interested in a role in the 6th installment of Mission: Impossible. No pressure. A post shared by Christopher McQuarrie (@christophermcquarrie) on
McQuarrie marks the first Mission: Impossible director to repeat, singing on to write and helm Mission: Impossible 6 after the smashing success of Rogue Nation. He and Cruise have a strong rapport that goes back to his script for Valkyrie, and he also helped out on rewrites for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Edge of Tomorrow and helmed Cruise in Jack Reacher.
Per Variety, Cavill is expected to be playing some sort of right-hand-man to the head of Cruise’s unit, which traditionally is the Secretary of State. Alec Baldwin assumed that role at the end of Rogue Nation, but it’s unclear if he’ll be back for Mission: Impossible 6. Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, and Jeremy Renner are all expected to return, but Variety notes it’s unclear in what capacity—one or more could simply be brief cameo-like roles to tie up loose ends.
Cavill, obviously, is best known for playing Superman in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and reprises that role in this November’s Justice League, but it was Guy Ritchie’s sorely underrated The Man from U.N.C.L.E. where he really got a chance to shine. The guy is hilarious when he wants to be, and incredibly smooth, and so a McQuarrie script/the Mission: Impossible franchise seems like the perfect fit. As if I wasn’t already excited for this movie enough.
