As a huge fan of the Mission: Impossible movies, I’ve watched them all several times. Mission: Impossible – Fallout is one that I’ve returned to multiple times since it debuted in 2018. Thanks to tracking my movie watching habits on IMDb and then Letterboxd, I know that I’ve watched Fallout six times over the years. I went twice on opening weekend and revisited it a few times since then, including the lead-up to Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Watching a movie this many times creates a certain amount of familiarity with it. That can even bring an ᴀssumption that you’ve learned everything there is to learn about it. I was definitely in that spot with Mission: Impossible – Fallout, including the reveal that Henry Cavill’s August Walker was John Lark. Yet, I was recently proven wrong thanks to a viral post on X (formerly Twitter). A rather simple initial post highlighting the excellence of the mission briefing at the beginning of the best Mission: Impossible movie wound up blowing my mind thanks to a detail I’d never noticed before.

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Mission: Impossible – Fallout Hid Henry Cavill In Ethan’s Mission Briefing

He’s At The Top Left

That initial post seems innocent at a first glance, and I wouldn’t even have paid much attention to it at first if not for PunishedBenn pointing out a brand new detail: Henry Cavill is hidden in the briefing scene. Ethan is shown looking at pH๏τos of known ᴀssociates of Solomon Lane and the Syndicate. This includes a brief image of a special unit crowded around three ᴅᴇᴀᴅ bodies, only all of the agents’ faces are obscured by black bars. But if you look at the top left of the pH๏τo, Henry Cavill’s infamous Fallout mustache is visible on the man standing on the side.

That’s right, Mission: Impossible – Fallout revealed that Cavill’s character was tied to Lane and the Syndicate almost immediately. This pH๏τo appears only two minutes and 56 seconds into the movie. If you happened to spot this detail right away, then Walker’s true allegiance would be known from the very beginning. It’s a detail that I can’t believe I never noticed before. Cavill’s mustache in the movie is very recognizable, as is his general build and stature. I’m amazed and a bit mad at myself for not catching it sooner.

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This is not a detail Cruise or Christopher McQuarrie surely wanted viewers to notice right away, but rather figure out later on. In my case, it took seven years. Not even six viewings could help me catch it, and I don’t believe I’m the only one who has missed this incredible Easter egg all this time.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout Cleverly Teased Henry Cavill’s John Lark Twist Later Too

Ethan Hunt Unknowingly Suggested The Truth

While I had never caught onto this very early tease about Henry Cavill’s character, I did previously catch onto a clever moment that had a similar effect. When Ethan and August are in the plane flying to the White Widow’s party, Ethan explains the plan to him. This includes a moment where the IMF veteran pulls out the mask-making machine. He illustrates how it works by scanning August’s face and having a digital recreation appear on the screen. Ethan points at August’s face scan and says he’ll “ᴀssume [Lark’s] idenтιтy.”

Ethan might just be using August as a demonstration, but I later realized that this was a clever way that Fallout foreshadowed August Walker being John Lark. He even points at the scan moments later as he talks about “borrowing [Lark’s] face.” Ethan doesn’t know it but he has Lark right in front of him and has the scans of his idenтιтy.

These Henry Cavill Details Make Me Love Mission: Impossible – Fallout Even More

& Makes Me Wonder If There’s More I’ve Missed

Beyond the shock of not figuring out the original detail sooner, these moments further show how well Mission: Impossible – Fallout lays the groundwork for the big twist. McQuarrie and Cruise’s style might lead to more changes narratively than other major productions, but this shows some of the brilliant ways they set up Lark’s idenтιтy reveal. It was right there in front of us, and Ethan, the entire time. The fact that these details could be overlooked for so long only makes them more impressive.

Conversely, I’m also now left wondering what other details in Mission: Impossible – Fallout I may have missed. If the Henry Cavill pH๏τo could elude me for all these years, are there other moments with additional hidden details that I’ve never noticed? The only way to find out may be to rewatch Mission: Impossible – Fallout for the seventh time.