Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has dropped a thrilling new trailer, and it teases some exciting new details about the plot of Tom Cruise’s upcoming blockbuster. While the first trailer was certainly exciting, it didn’t reveal much about the plot. It teased a lot of exciting action scenes — including a primary-colored biplane chase through a valley — and suggested that this could be the last Mission: Impossible film with the тιтle reveal and Ethan’s line asking Luther to trust him “one last time.”
The new trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning gets a lot more specific about the plot. It reveals how long after ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning it takes place and what Ethan plans to do to combat The Enтιтy. Plus, it adds more fuel to those theories that this will be Ethan’s last adventure on the big screen.
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Ethan Is In Government Custody
When Ethan first appears in The Final Reckoning’s new trailer, he’s in handcuffs, being escorted through a government facility. Throughout the Mission: Impossible movies, Ethan has often gone rogue and rarely faces any serious repercussions for it. But it seems that his roguish activities have finally caught up to him and he’s been arrested.
It’s unclear if he’s been arrested for something he did in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning or something he’s going to do at the beginning of The Final Reckoning. The government leaders expecting his arrival seem to be just as surprised as we are that he’s in handcuffs. Despite the arrest, it seems as though Ethan will reluctantly team up with the government to take down a common enemy.
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The Final Reckoning Takes Place Two Months After ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning
Image via Paramount Pictures
During a meeting of government brᴀss, it’s mentioned that Ethan gᴀssed a security summit, which was depicted in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning. They note that this happened “just two months ago,” meaning The Final Reckoning takes place two months after the events of ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning. There was a much bigger time gap between previous Mission: Impossible movies, but since ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning ended on a cliffhanger and it was originally conceived as a two-parter, The Final Reckoning picks up shortly thereafter.
But at the same time, it means it doesn’t pick up right where ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning left off. There’s been some time for the dust to settle after ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning’s climactic train crash. Two months is a long time when the world is teetering on the brink of nuclear war.
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Ethan Connecting To The Enтιтy
ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning introduced the new big bad of the Mission: Impossible franchise. After Ethan had faced formidable human foes like Owen Davian, Solomon Lane, and August Walker, he finally found his match in a malicious A.I. known simply as “The Enтιтy.” Out of all the Mission: Impossible villains, The Enтιтy is the most powerful by far. It can exist across the globe at once, it can hack into any computer on Earth, and it’s unburdened by humanity.
In The Final Reckoning, Ethan seems to be taking a hands-on approach in his battle against The Enтιтy. The trailer shows him getting into a machine and hooking himself up to some sort of VR headset that allows him to connect directly to The Enтιтy. And it looks like this plot point will pave the way for some trippy visuals.
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Ethan Has A Vision Of Grace & Benji Dying
When Ethan connects to The Enтιтy, he’s treated to a rapid montage mixing memories of the past with visions of the future. It’s impossible for the naked eye to comprehend them all, because none of them appear for more than a single frame. But if you go through this montage frame by frame on YouTube (using the keys), you’ll see that there are some really frightening images spliced in there.
Ethan’s visions include images of Grace and Benji seemingly dying. Benji looks to be frozen, which could be what killed him. Rather than showing Ethan the future, The Enтιтy could be showing him possible futures that will come to pᴀss if he’s not careful, or simply preying on his own fears of what the future will bring.
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The Final Reckoning Is Digging Into Ethan’s Past
The new Mission: Impossible trailer seems to confirm the theories that The Final Reckoning will be the last film in the franchise, or at least the last adventure for Ethan. It’s looking into the past and going over Ethan’s storied history. Most other Mission: Impossible movies have just been standalone spy adventures unconcerned with the previous installments, but The Final Reckoning is deliberately digging into Ethan’s past.
As Nick Offerman’s character flips through Ethan’s case file, he lists off some of Ethan’s most impressive achievements. He mentions the iconic CIA vault break-in from the first movie and the Kremlin explosion from Ghost Protocol. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning could really be the endgame.
