It's a big weekend for action franchises we love reviving dudes we previously thought were dead. First, it was the Fast & Furious 9 trailer revealing Han is, in fact, alive. Now, we're learning Henry Czerny will be back for Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8 as Kittridge. It's been 24 years since we last saw former IMF director Eugene Kittridge facing off against special agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise).

Director/writer Christopher McQuarrie, who will helm M:I chapters 7 and 8, announced Czerny was back via his Twitter timeline on Saturday. McQuarrie posted a black-and-white photo of Czerny with the caption: "There is no escaping the past... #MI7 #MI8." Much of the casting news for M:I 7 has been pretty darn exciting as franchise faves Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, and Simon Pegg return while Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Shea Whigham are set to join the action. But Czerny coming back as the no good, very shady dude Kittridge? File this under "Things I Never Saw Coming."

Longtime M:I fans will confirm Kittridge's return is a huge deal, mostly because we thought he died back in the first M:I film released in 1996. The last time we saw Kittridge, he was sitting down with Ethan in a quiet restaurant and attempting to pin Ethan as the IMF mole wreaking havoc within the ranks. Ethan, clearly having none of it, proceeded to use a bomb disguised as a stick of gum to light the place up while making it out of there in (more or less) one piece.

Since then, M:I fans have believed Kittridge was just another casualty in Ethan's long career with the IMF, a bureau very much experienced with getting a fresh director with every new franchise installment. With Kittridge back for M:I 7 and M:I 8, we should expect his role to be sizable and important in the events of each respective film. While it's totally possible he could resume his duties as IMF director, it would be even more exciting to see him take on a new relationship to Ethan and his M:I team. But what I really want to know is how Kittridge is coming back into the fold because #HolyExpositionBatman, we're gonna need some answers stat.

Mission: Impossible 7 is expected on July 23, 2021 and Mission: Impossible 8 is scheduled for August 5, 2022. For more, check out the other surprise Mission: Impossible return we're excited to see.