Glen Powell Humorously Responds To Reports That He’ll Replace Tom Cruise As The Mission: Impossible Franchise’s Lead
Within the Hollywood landscape, Glen Powell has emerged as an incredibly bright star, who’s starred in some truly excellent films. His profile is certainly rising, and it’s hard to argue against the notion that he’s leading man material. Amid his continued come-up in the industry, it was recently reported that Powell had been tapped to take on a major franchise. It was specifically claimed that he’d been hired to replace Tom Cruise as the lead of the Mission: Impossible movies, and Powell himself humorously responded to that assertion.
The report regarding the Hit Man star allegedly joining the world of M:I came by way of The InSneider, who specifically said that Tom Cruise wants his Top Gun: Maverick co-star to be his successor. ESPN’s Pat McAfee and his colleagues caught wind of the news and discussed it on his show. Desiring answers, the group went straight to the source, as McAfee called up Glen Powell himself. The sports talk show host humorously congratulated the actor on his supposed new gig, leading Powell to share his funny reply:
My mom would never let me do that. That’s the worst gig in town, everybody knows that. That’s a death trap.
Pat McAfee and co. (as you can see in this X post) jokingly doubted the Devotion star’s denial of the news. Nevertheless, if you ask me, I think he’s telling the truth. As jokey as it may sound, I can imagine the actor’s mother, who he’s close with, not being so keen on him taking on the kind of feats that Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt performs. (I mean there aren’t too many people who would – or probably should – ride a motorcycle off a giant cliff.) So, for now, it sounds like we can put this particular rumor in the “squashed” pile.
As wild as the notion of Tom Cruise not playing Ethan may sound, there’s certainly reason to believe that we’re heading towards that reality. This week saw the release of the Mission: Impossible – The Last Reckoning trailer, and it seems to indicate that fans are going to witness Hunt’s swan song amid the 2025 movie schedule. It’s hard to imagine Cruise’s famous character either dying or being retired in some other way. However, this long-running (no pun intended) character has been through a lot over seven installments and nearly 30 years. So it may be time for him to ride off into the sunset.
I’d still argue, though, that if the acclaimed action franchise is to continue with a new star, Paramount Pictures likely wouldn’t have a successor chosen just yet. There’s also the fact that Glen Powell is a very busy man these days. Just recently, he was filming his upcoming Hulu show, sports comedy Chad Powers. He’s also co-leading Edgar Wright’s remake of The Running Man and was actually on set when Pat McAfee called him. And, of course, there’s also the fact that Powell has been teasing Top Gun 3.
Even though it’s true that Glen Powell and Tom Cruise are close, there will need to be some concrete evidence before I believe the latter will take on Cruise’s storied film series. It’s certainly not impossible (again, no pun intended), but we’ll just have to wait and see. Until that happens, though, I’m just eager to see what Cruise and co. have in store with the eighth installment in the M:I franchise.
The highly anticipated Mission: Impossible – The Last Reckoning is set to hit theaters on May 23, 2025. In the meantime, you can stream all of the previous films with a Paramount+ subscription. Also, that same membership will allow you to stream Top Gun: Maverick.
