After Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning‘s new trailer, I’ve got a theory that Ilsa Faust is alive, after all, based on one teased scene. From the moment that Ilsa Faust died in Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning, theories about the possibility of her still being alive started. The seventh film in the franchise made the death of Rebecca Ferguson’s character quite convincing, and that also created a lot of heartbreak for viewers who wanted to see Ilsa’s story continue. That left me and anyone else wanting her back to look for any possible way it could happen.

Rebecca Ferguson isn’t part of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning‘s cast list officially, and there’s been no definitive tease that she’s in the film. I’d mostly given up on the idea that Ilsa would return in any meaningful fashion in the potential franchise conclusion. Yet, that’s changed with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning‘s full trailer. There’s not a scene in the trailer that directly references or shows Ferguson’s character in full, but one moment makes me believe that Ilsa Faust is alive and part of a major subplot. Better yet, it would work with ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning‘s story.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’s Trailer Teases An Injured Person In Hiding With Luther

But Who Is It?

While watching the trailer on repeat, one of many scenes that caught my eye was a sH๏τ at the 51-second mark. The camera is focused on someone’s right hand with blood dripping down it while hanging off a bed. The background shows a bald, Black man in a blue shirt lying on a bed. The latter directly matches Luther’s appearance elsewhere in the trailer. There are also monitors nearby that look like medical monitors commonly found in hospitals.

This is notable because Luther is meant to be in hiding by himself, as that’s the mission he went on in Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning‘s ending to help find a way to defeat The Enтιтy. That creates a question about who Luther would be willing to share his secret hideout with. Ethan Hunt is a good option, but it does not appear to be him. The trailer shows him greeting and hugging Luther when visiting the location, and he’s fully healthy.

As long as Gabriel and The Enтιтy haven’t kidnapped Luther at this point and he’s still in hiding as planned, then whoever he’d be with has to be someone he trusts and cares for. There would be no need for the movie to include another character here if they were not important to the story at hand or the franchise overall. While it’s possible that Paris (Pom Klementieff) is sent to Luther to recover after ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning, that doesn’t fully track. Luther seemingly has a separate subplot from Ethan’s IMF team in The Final Reckoning, which Paris is on.

I Think Ilsa Faust Is Alive & Secretly With Luther In The Final Reckoning

Rebecca Ferguson Could Be Returning

If the person with Luther isn’t Ethan or Paris, I believe it is Ilsa Faust. Grace, Benji, Brandt, Julia, and the White Widow are other possibilities in theory. However, none of them are presently known to be in danger or are shown to be in harm’s way enough that they’d need to be brought to Luther’s hideout for protection. Furthermore, Ethan would have to risk exposing Luther’s location to The Enтιтy by bringing an injured comrade to the hideout.

It would make the most sense if the injured person in hiding with Luther were Ilsa Faust. It’s worth remembering how Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning handled Ilsa’s death. She’s seemingly stabbed in the heart and found by Ethan while lying on the ground. The movie doesn’t show or explain what happens to Ilsa’s body afterward. It instead jumps directly to the aftermath of her death and Ethan’s team planning how to do the train heist. Notably, Luther leaves the team immediately after and goes into hiding.

I now think that part of the reason why he left so quickly is because Luther’s mission was also to protect Ilsa, who is still alive, and help nurse her back to health. She could be the one in this remote, offline location with Luther, and the blood dripping off her hand could be from the wound Gabriel left when he tried to kill her. This would add more importance to Luther’s subplot in The Final Reckoning. He wouldn’t just be working to stop The Enтιтy. He could be part of a secret mission to save Ilsa’s life.

Faking Ilsa Faust’s Death Would Actually Work With Mission: Impossible – The ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning’s Story

Ilsa’s Death Was Part Of The Enтιтy’s Plan

The biggest hurdle when suggesting that Ilsa Faust is alive after ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning is finding a story reason for it to work. Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise wouldn’t just undo Ilsa’s death to appease fans if it meant hurting the franchise and characters. The good news is that the overarching story between ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning and The Final Reckoning can work if Ilsa is still alive. In some ways, I even think it could improve the movies.

The issue that Ethan and the IMF repeatedly run into in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning is trying to outsmart The Enтιтy and not play into its plan. The AI made its plan clear too. The Enтιтy predicted that either Ilsa or Grace would die the night of the White Widow meeting. It also predicted that Gabriel would get the cruciform key shortly after on the train. This forced Ethan’s team to get creative and use tricks to steal the key from Gabriel. That also means it’s possible that Ethan outsmarted the AI previously with Ilsa’s fate.

There was no real time to plan a fake death for Ilsa once that part of The Enтιтy’s plan was revealed, but Ethan, Benji, and Luther could have still played their roles in convincing the AI that Ilsa was really ᴅᴇᴀᴅ when she, in fact, was not. I now think that Luther and Ethan devised a plan to act as if Ilsa had died so that the Enтιтy and Gabriel believed the plan was already in motion. But, the reality was that Ilsa managed to survive Gabriel’s attack and keeping her with Luther in an offline hideout helped protect the secret.

In this way, Ilsa’s survival plays into ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning‘s story as an example of Ethan’s humanity and desire to save people and how that counteracts with The Enтιтy’s plan. It would also show that Ethan was beating The Enтιтy long before he got the cruciform key. This could then help explain why Ilsa’s death had to be faked. Ethan needed The Enтιтy and Gabriel to think they were winning, when the truth was that Ethan was outsmarting them.

I also want to mention that this wouldn’t necessarily mean retconning one of Luther’s final lines in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning. In his goodbye to Ethan, he says, “Think about it, why else would The Enтιтy want [Gabriel] to kill someone you care about?” That line plays like it’s referring to Ilsa. But, it also works as a reference to Marie, the woman from Ethan’s past that Gabriel killed years ago. Ethan still has the fuel for revenge against Gabriel even if Ilsa didn’t die. Her close call and parallel to Marie is enough.

I’m Still Hesitant To Fully Believe My Own Ilsa Faust Is Alive In Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Theory

Rebecca Ferguson Could Be A Great Liar Too

There’s a part of me that now believes that Ilsa Faust is alive and will be featured in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning after the new trailer. I’ll also admit that I’m still a bit hesitant to fully believe my own theory. This mostly stems from Rebecca Ferguson’s comments on Ilsa’s death and her future in the franchise.

Following ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning‘s release, Ferguson took some time to open about her franchise exit. She tellingly said in April 2024, “To speak very clearly — because I know a lot of people are sad about it, I’m sad about it — I had filmed three films. My deal was done.” She went on to say, “Selfishly, that’s a lot of time to make a ‘Mission’ film. And unless you’re going to have a lot of screen time, that’s a lot of time sitting around waiting to film a huge movie that could take over a year to film. It’s dedication.”

She sounds like someone who is happy to be out of the franchise after ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning, not someone who is secretly part of The Final Reckoning. However, she did leave the door slightly open for a return in an earlier interview when she said, “But that’s the thing you never know, right?” In both interviews, Ferguson made it clear she wants Ilsa to be a rogue agent, not a team member. It would likely take that type of storyline for her to return.

Furthermore, McQuarrie cast doubt on Ilsa’s return after ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning‘s release. He said, “It’s a very heroic death for that character. It is not in any way, shape, or form disposable. It’s a noble and heroic death.” Undoing that could be counterintuitive to the story he’s telling – but I also can’t ignore the reasons why Ilsa Faust being alive could work and how The Final Reckoning‘s trailer sets up a potential option that would not undermine what came before.

There’s no indication that Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning plans to give Ilsa the major role or rogue status that would appease Ferguson. Based on the actress’s comments alone, it seems unlikely she’d come back in this capacity unless the eighth film is completely hiding a significant Ilsa storyline. That doesn’t mean its impossible. Ferguson could be lying to the press to preserve the surprise of her return.