A Mission: Impossible movie from 14 years ago proves that it won’t be easy for Top Gun 3 to replace Tom Cruise’s Maverick. For most of his career, Mission: Impossible has been Cruise’s main franchise. However, that may no longer be the case since the recently released Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning could be the last movie in the spy series. Even if The Final Reckoning does end up being the last Mission: Impossible movie, there’s no need for Cruise fans to worry thanks to another franchise.

Because of the mᴀssive success of 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, a third Top Gun movie has been confirmed. This means that Cruise will return as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in at least one more Top Gun movie. The third movie in the series could potentially be the last time we see Maverick though. After the 2022 film, some fans think that not many more intriguing stories can be told about Cruise’s Top Gun character. Therefore, Top Gun 3 may try to replace Cruise as the franchise’s lead, but 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol proved that will be hard to do.

Mission: Impossible Tried, & Failed, To Replace Tom Cruise Years Ago

A Fan-Favorite Mission: Impossible Character Was Originally Planned To Replace Ethan Hunt

In the early 2000s, many were concerned about the future of the Mission: Impossible franchise because of Cruise’s off-screen controversies. Leading up to the series’ fourth movie, it was believed that Cruise wasn’t as popular as he once was. After all, Mission: Impossible III is the lowest-grossing movie in the entire franchise. Therefore, when Jeremy Renner was cast as William Brandt in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, it was believed that he may end up taking over as the lead of the series.

Of course, this never ended up happening. Ghost Protocol received amazing reviews and grossed $694 million at the worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo), becoming the highest-grossing entry in the franchise at that point in time. Because of the extremely positive reception of Ghost Protocol and Cruise’s renewed popularity, plans to potentially make Renner the new lead of the Mission: Impossible franchise were dismissed. Therefore, this proves that it’s incredibly hard to replace Cruise as the lead of a franchise.

Top Gun 3’s Likely Success Will Make It Even Tougher To Replace Tom Cruise

Pete “Maverick” Mitchell Is One Of Cruise’s Best Characters

Leading up to the release of Top Gun 3, many fans have expressed their opinion that Cruise should step down as the lead of the franchise. This is a completely different situation to the one Cruise was facing before the release of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Nowadays, Cruise is practically a universally beloved actor and people all over the world desperately want to see him return as Maverick in Top Gun 3. However, a lot of fans think there are a couple of suitable replacements in the Top Gun franchise.

No offense to Renner, but it would have been practically impossible to replace Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. In contrast, fans believe Miles Teller’s Rooster or Glen Powell’s Hangman would be great choices to lead the Top Gun franchise. This is easier said than done though. Just like Maverick, it’s likely that Top Gun 3 will be a mᴀssive success and fans will once again be asking to see more of Cruise in the role. Therefore, as was seen with Ghost Protocol, it’s possible that any replacement plans for the Top Gun franchise may be too difficult to pull off.

Top Gun 3 Is In A Better Spot Than Mission: Impossible To Replace Tom Cruise

The Top Gun Franchise Doesn’t Need Tom Cruise

Replacing Cruise in any franchise would definitely be hard, but I believe Top Gun 3 may be in a better position to do so than the Mission: Impossible franchisee was when Ghost Protocol was released. After the release of Ghost Protocol, the Mission: Impossible franchise became mostly known for its insane stunts. All the Mission: Impossible movies are so thrilling to watch because Cruise actually does his own stunts, which is something that an Ethan Hunt replacement likely wouldn’t have been able to do.

It’s worth noting that Cruise flew all the planes himself in Top Gun: Maverick, which is obviously impressive, but that franchise doesn’t require the same kind of death-defying stunts that the Mission: Impossible movies do. Therefore, a different actor could potentially get promoted to the lead of the franchise without the style of the movies drastically changing. Since fans already want to see more of Rooster and Hangman, one of them taking over as the lead would probably be accepted by most. Therefore, I think Top Gun 3 could successfully replace Cruise as the lead of the franchise.