The Mission: Impossible series has provided Ethan Hunt with several love interests, each one meeting a different fate after their appearances. The chronological order of Mission: Impossible movies puts Tom Cruise's Hunt through several daring tasks. The movie franchise began on a more uneven footing and, despite the original 1996 thriller being well-received, its sequel was regarded as one of the worst-ranked Mission: Impossible movies.
That said, Mission: Impossible III spearheaded a resurgence for the franchise that has seen it become one of the more beloved action series' in modern cinema. This is evident by the incredible level of anticipation for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two's story. With more incredible stunts, insane action, and Mission: Impossible deaths on the horizon for the franchise, it is worth looking back at Ethan Hunt's history. One aspect that has been ever-present regarding Hunt is his love life, with the Mission: Impossible series providing him with many partners who have suffered a variety of different fates.
6 Claire Phelps - Mission: Impossible
Played By Emmanuelle Béart
The first love interest introduced to the Mission: Impossible franchise came in the eponymous first movie in 1996. This character is Claire Phelps, a member of Ethan Hunt's team during the mission they undertake for the Impossible Mission Force. Claire serves as the getaway transportation expert in Mission: Impossible and is the wife of Jim Phelps, Jon Voight's IMF director. As such, Claire is only introduced as somewhat of a love interest to Ethan midway through the movie, when it is confirmed that they are the sole two survivors of the assassination attempts against the IMF team.
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Claire's resurfacing at the IMF safehouse builds on the previous romantic tension that was hinted at between her and Ethan. The majority of their scenes together are romantically charged, despite the two not actually becoming an official couple. Later in the film, Jim resurfaces also and makes hints that Ethan and Claire had feelings for each other, such as citing the Bible phrase that one should not covet his neighbor's wife. In the film's climax, Claire is killed by Jim after she tries to defend Ethan.
5 Nyah Nordoff-Hall - Mission: Impossible II
Played By Thandiwe Newton
Mission: Impossible II was a very different film from its predecessor, from the more exaggerated action style of director John Woo to the depiction of Ethan Hunt himself. Hunt becomes much more of a James Bond-esque character, something that is eventually reverted in future movies. One way in which this depiction of Ethan Hunt becomes different after his origin story is his relationship with Thandiwe Newton's Nyah Nordoff-Hall. Nyah is introduced as a professional thief who is hired by Ethan to track down a man named Ambrose who is threatening to unleash a deadly virus to profit off its cure.
With Hunt becoming more of a stereotypical "ladies' man" character, his dynamic with Nyah is incredibly flirtatious. This is similar to his relationship with Claire in the first movie, but Mission: Impossible II takes it further thanks to the exaggerated style of the film's many aspects. Although Ethan and Nyah never take their flirting to a more concrete level of relationship, the film's ending implies they do so in the seven-year time jump between Mission: Impossible II and Mission: Impossible III.
Mission: Impossible III's time jump was as much a vehicle to explain the soft reboot of Ethan's character as it was a soft reboot of the franchise itself.
At the end of the film, Nyah injects herself with the Chimera virus in an attempt to kill herself and stop the virus from spreading. Eventually, Nyah is cured by Ethan and Ambrose's villainous plans are stopped. As the film closes out, Ethan and Nyah take a vacation together to Syndey, Australia. Mission: Impossible II is Nyah's only appearance in the franchise, hinting she and Ethan had a brief relationship together that did not last, leading into the former's depiction in Mission: Impossible III and his next, arguably most important, love interest.
4 Julia Meade - Mission: Impossible III
Played By Michelle Monaghan
As alluded to, Julia is undoubtedly the most important love interest of Ethan Hunt's in the entire Mission: Impossible franchise. Picking up seven years after Mission: Impossible II, Mission: Impossible III introduces Ethan as having retired from the IMF's fieldwork and living a secluded, suburban life with his fiancée, Julia. Ethan still works as a trainer of recruits to the IMF, yet Julia is completely unaware of his previous life as an agent and his ties to the organization. Eventually, Ethan is pulled back into fieldwork and Julia’s life is threatened by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Owen Davian, a franchise-best villain.
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This comes after Julia and Ethan secretly marry, marking the first love interest for the latter that is made official in the Mission: Impossible franchise. As his wife, Julia becomes the focal point of Ethan's love life. This extends into future movies, resulting in Monaghan's recurring appearances in films later in the Mission: Impossible timeline.
Mission: Impossible Movie | Julia's Role | Release Date |
---|---|---|
Mission: Impossible III | Ethan's wife who plays a major role in the plot | May 5, 2006 |
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol | A brief cameo in the film's final scene | December 21, 2011 |
Mission: Impossible - Fallout | A supporting role in the film's final act | July 27, 2018 |
Julia's fate is incredibly interesting, as it is not resolved in Mission: Impossible III. This film ends with Ethan saving Julia's life and the two happily embarking on their honeymoon after she finds out about his past. However, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol served as another soft reboot of the series as it is explained that Ethan is in a Russian jail for killing those responsible for Julia's death. That said, it is later revealed that Julia's Mission: Impossible death was faked in order to keep her safe from Ethan's IMF life, forcing the two to separate.
Julia is next seen in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol's final scene, in which Ethan is shown looking after her safety from afar as she lives a new life in Seattle. Julia is then not seen again until two movies later in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. This film sees Ethan's ongoing feud with Soloman Lane culminate in Julia's life being unknowingly threatened by nuclear bombs. Julia discovers this and aids Ving Rhames' Luther Stickell in defusing the bomb before departing once more with her new husband, content that Ethan will always be around to protect her.
3 Ilsa Faust - Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Played By Rebecca Ferguson
After Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol wrapped up Julia's story, at least until Fallout, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation introduced another of Ethan's longer-lasting love interests. The character in question is Ilsa Faust, played by Rebecca Ferguson. Faust is introduced as an undercover MI6 agent infiltrating the Syndicate, the group run by the aforementioned Solomon Lane, that Ethan is attempting to take down. Throughout Rogue Nation, Ethan and Ilsa have an unspoken chemistry that is less overt than Ehtan's feelings for Julia.
In an interview with Empire, Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie outlined that Ilsa and Ethan have feelings for one another, but that he was more interested in crafting a complex relationship than an overt one.
Ilsa becomes a steadfast ally of Ethan's in Rogue Nation, leading to her appearance in future movies. In the final scene of Mission: Impossible - Fallout, it is implied that Ethan and Ilsa become somewhat of a couple. This is further outlined in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, despite never being outright confirmed. In this film, Ilsa meets a grim fate after she is killed by Gabriel, devastating Ethan and motivating his need to stop Gabriel and Mission: Impossible's AI villain, The Entity.
2 Grace - Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One & Part Two
Played By Hayley Atwell
As Ilsa was removed from the Mission: Impossible franchise in Dead Reckoning Part One, another potential love interest for Ethan debuted: Hayley Atwell's Grace. Like Nyah, Grace is introduced as a professional thief who becomes embroiled in the plans of Gabriel and The Entity and, thus, an unwitting target. Therefore, she allies with Ethan and his IMF team after an initial period of distrust. As with many of the other female characters who interact with Ethan, he and Grace have a strong chemistry that can be inferred as romantic feelings.
The death of Ilsa - and the decision between her and Grace in the film - implies that the latter will become Ilsa's unofficial replacement, potentially teasing a relationship between her and Ethan...
While not an overt love interest, the other events of Mission: Impossible - Daed Reckoning Part One tease that she could become one to Ethan in the future. Grace's IMF future in Mission: Impossible, which she is committed to at the end of Dead Reckoning, hints she and Ethan will cross paths again in the future. Similarly, the death of Ilsa - and the decision between her and Grace in the film - implies that the latter will become Ilsa's unofficial replacement, potentially teasing a relationship between her and Ethan in Mission: Impossible 8.
1 Marie - Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One & Part Two
Played By Mariela Garriga
The final potential love interest of Ethan's in the Mission: Impossible franchise is, intriguingly, also the most mysterious. In Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, several flashbacks to Ethan's pre-IMF life were shown. This fleshed out the connection he has to Gabriel, The Entity's primary agent. Before The Entity, Ethan and Gabriel were at odds. For what exactly, the film leaves as unclear as the rest of Ethan's pre-IMF life. However, it is made clear that Gabriel once killed someone Ethan cared a lot about, a woman named Marie.
Marie, played by Mariela Garriga, is only seen briefly in Mission: Impossible 7's flashbacks as Gabriel kills her in front of Ethan. It is not outlined exactly how Marie and Ethan were connected, but it is safe to assume they were romantically involved. This would explain several things, from Ethan's hatred of Gabriel to his previous hesitance to become involved with other women officially - discounting Julia - and his intense need to protect those closest to him. Future installments in the Mission: Impossible franchise will likely delve deeper into Marie's character, rounding out the list of Ethan Hunt’s love interests.
Mission: Impossible
The Mission: Impossible franchise is an American action spy series that began with the 1996 film Mission: Impossible and has since become one of the most successful and long-running franchises in Hollywood. The films follow Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), as he takes on various high-stakes missions around the world, often involving intricate heists, double-crosses, and death-defying stunts. The franchise is renowned for its intense action sequences, particularly those performed by Tom Cruise, who insists on doing many of his own stunts.
- Created by
- Bruce Geller , David Koepp , Steven Zaillian , Robert Towne , Christopher McQuarrie , Tom Cruise
- First Film
- Mission: Impossible
- Latest Film
- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning
- Upcoming Films
- Mission: Impossible 8
- Cast
- Tom Cruise , Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg , Rebecca Ferguson , Henry Czerny , Hayley Atwell , Vanessa Kirby