At one point, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was supposed to be a handoff film. The franchise would essentially transfer from Tom Cruise to Jeremy Renner, and therefore become kind of a soft reboot for the series. Instead, the series transformed into more of a team dynamic, and while there’s no mistaking that Ethan Hunt is still the lead character, Renner’s William Brandt fit nicely into the team dynamic as the guy whose reactions are largely, “You gotta be shitting me.”

Unfortunately, that voice of reason will be absent from Mission: Impossible 6.   According to Showbiz411, Renner won’t be able to appear in the upcoming spy thriller because of his commitments to Marvel. That being said, Showbiz411 may be a bit confused with those specific commitments. Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 are shooting back-to-back and both of those films will likely involve Hawkeye. However, Showbiz411 believes the two movies shooting back-to-back are Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp. While Ant-Man is filming this year for a 2018 release, that’s a separate project that Peyton Reed is helming while Joe & Anthony Russo take on the Avengers sequels.

Is it possible that Brandt will return for future Mission: Impossible movies? It’s certainly possible. Ving Rhames was largely absent from Ghost Protocol but was a player in the sequel, Rogue Nation. Hopefully, we haven’t seen the last of Renner’s sardonic special agent.

Mission: Impossible 6 opens July 27, 2018 and stars Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Henry Cavill, Vanessa Kirby, Sean Harris, and Alec Baldwin. Renner will be seen in theaters this August in the thriller Wind River.

For more on Mission: Impossible 6, click the links below:

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Image via Paramount
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Image via Paramount