WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Mission: Impossible – The Final ReckoningMission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning wrapped many major plot threads set up in the previous film, with one significant exception. It was established in Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning that both Ethan and Gabriel had a history with a mysterious woman named Marie, and the film revealed that she played a significant role in Ethan’s origin story and his relationship with the villainous Gabriel.

While Marie was introduced as a major figure in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning‘s ongoing story, nothing new about her was revealed in 2025’s The Final Reckoning. While writer-director Christopher McQuarrie had his reasons for not continuing this subplot, it ultimately hurt The Final Reckoning as a film, as she was a crucial part of Ethan and Gabriel’s lives.

The Final Reckoning Doesn’t Revisit Ethan’s Backstory With Marie That ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning Introduced

The Final Reckoning Left A Major Plot Thread Hanging

In Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning, it was revealed that Marie was a woman with whom Ethan had a relationship long before the first Mission: Impossible movie. The film also revealed that Gabriel had murdered her for some unknown reason and had framed Ethan for the crime. To avoid jail time, Ethan accepted an offer to join the Impossible Mission Force, making Marie indirectly responsible for Ethan becoming a secret agent.

Although Marie is a significant part of Ethan’s origin, The Final Reckoning doesn’t reveal anything new about who she is, her relationship with Ethan, or why Gabriel killed her in the first place. This lack of information is very odd, especially since The Final Reckoning took the time to explain the Enтιтy’s origin as a product of the Rabbit’s Foot Ethan stole in Mission: Impossible III.

Christopher McQuarrie’s Explanation For The Final Reckoning Abandoning The Marie Storyline Is Odd

The Final Reckoning Director’s Reasoning For Disregarding Marie Doesn’t Add Up

In an interview with Happy Sad Confused, writer-director Christopher McQuarrie claimed that, in response to criticisms of ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning, he tried to make the sequel shorter and dial back on what he thought was too much exposition about Ethan and Gabriel’s relationship. He also argued that he could abandon this subplot and make The Final Reckoning a standalone movie due to the gap between it and the previous film.

I sH๏τ a backstory, I sH๏τ a sequence that told you a little bit more about their relationship. And the truth of the matter was that, unless I made that movie, it’s always going to feel somewhat ambiguous and open-ended anyway, so we just said screw it. The other thing was, we knew that, because of the [Hollywood] strikes and everything else, we were that much farther away from ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning, right? If it had come out the following summer, that would’ve been different. But there was so much distance on the movie, it gave us the permission we needed to just let ‘ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning’ go and make this a standalone movie.

Despite McQuarrie’s comments, The Final Reckoning was never going to be a standalone film. Either way, the Enтιтy was still the main villain, and the story had multiple callbacks to previous Mission: Impossible movies. Secondly, despite McQuarrie’s reasoning, Ethan’s relationship with Gabriel and Marie was a huge storyline in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning and a major part of Ethan’s character. Even if their relationship would still be somewhat ambiguous after another scene revealed more about it, it was still better than not revealing anything at all after such an enticing setup in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning.

The Final Reckoning Not Addressing Marie & Ethan’s Backstory Hurts The Movie

The Final Reckoning Hurts Itself As A Finale By Not Expanding On Marie & Ethan’s Relationship

Marie’s character felt flat after The Final Reckoning didn’t reveal anything new about her. Given her ᴀssociation with Gabriel, the latter’s character suffered the same fate as well. Gabriel should have been Ethan’s greatest adversary, second only to the Enтιтy, having caused Ethan so much pain and driven him to become an IMF agent. Not revealing more about it or Gabriel’s motivations made Ethan’s battle with him in The Final Reckoning less emotional and compelling.

Ethan’s origin with Marie could have made for a compelling dynamic between him and Gabriel, especially as the former tries to protect those he holds dear from getting murdered as well. This is part of why Ilsa Faust’s death in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning is so painful for Ethan. In the end, Gabriel felt like just another villain for Ethan to fight in The Final Reckoning, and Marie seemed like just another person Ethan couldn’t protect.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is an exciting conclusion to Ethan’s story, but failing to expand upon Marie’s character prevented the film from realizing its true potential. Though McQuarrie tried to make the film better than ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning by removing unnecessary exposition, it ultimately hurt Marie, Ethan, and Gabriel’s characters. Since The Final Reckoning presented itself as Ethan’s last adventure on the big screen, leaving such a huge plot thread hanging makes the film less satisfying as a finale.

Source: Happy Sad Confused