Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning sets Top Gun 3 up for a challenge I’m not sure even Tom Cruise is up to. As the eighth and final installment in the franchise, the film sees Cruise reprise his role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt alongside his team of operatives who must prevent the rogue AI known as the Enтιтy from unleashing global destruction against humanity. The Final Reckoning has received rave reviews and has earned over $450 million globally, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 2025 and achieving the biggest opening weekend in the franchise’s history.

Now that Cruise is seemingly done with the demanding Mission: Impossible franchise, he will have much more time to focus on other projects, such as Top Gun 3. Though Maverick was released in 2022 and was a mᴀssive critical and commercial success that made nearly $1.5 billion at the box office and earned six Academy Award nominations, the threequel wasn’t officially announced until January 2024, with Cruise returning as Maverick alongside Miles Teller as Rooster and Glen Powell as Hangman. Now, with Mission: Impossible behind him, Cruise can turn his attention to Top Gun 3.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Has The Best Plane Stunt Of Cruise’s Career

He Raised The Bar Once Again

Though Top Gun might be Tom Cruise’s aerial franchise, the biplane stunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, while obviously quite different from the fighter jets flown in Top Gun, is one of the most jaw-dropping things Cruise (or any actor) has ever done. For nearly 30 years, Cruise has performed increasingly daring stunts with each Mission: Impossible movie, from scaling the Burj Khalifa to clinging to the side of a moving aircraft.

In The Final Reckoning, Cruise pushes boundaries once again with a breathtaking sequence featuring Ethan in a midair battle against Gabriel atop a flying biplane. It’s arguably the most dangerous stunt Cruise has ever done in Mission: Impossible, and another testament to his commitment to practical effects and authentic stunt work.

For the stunt, Cruise gripped the wing of a vintage biplane flying at 140 miles per hour and 8,000 feet above ground. Enduring fierce winds and thin air, Cruise didn’t just hold on; he navigated across the plane’s exterior, climbing from the fuselage to the wings mid-flight.

Can Top Gun 3 Beat The Final Reckoning’s Plane Sequence?

It’s A Mᴀssive Challenge To Overcome

After The Final Reckoning‘s plane stunt, there will be an expectation for Cruise to top himself once again in Top Gun 3. However, the franchises are quite different in terms of style and the execution of their stunts. Cruise could push the limits in terms of what planes he can fly or how fast he can go, but there are hard limits regarding what he can do.

For instance, Cruise wasn’t allowed to fly an F-18 fighter jet in Top Gun: Maverick, given their mᴀssive price tag and the extensive training required to handle the aircraft. With these limits in place, there is no natural progression for what Cruise can do in Top Gun 3 to top The Final Reckoning‘s biplane stunt and convince audiences that his life is really in danger.

The thrill of The Final Reckoning‘s biplane stunt comes from the raw danger of Cruise on the exterior of the aircraft. By contrast, Top Gun relies on military-grade aircraft bound by strict safety regulations, making it harder to replicate that same level of palpable risk. In turn, the biplane sequence may always stand as the peak of Cruise’s aerial stunt career.

Top Gun 3’s Challenge Is Also Why It’s Good Mission: Impossible Is Over

It Becomes Harder & Harder To Keep Raising The Bar

And that’s exactly why it’s good Mission: Impossible is ending here. Cruise has pushed the boundaries of practical stunts to near-impossible heights, and The Final Reckoning‘s biplane stunt feels like a fitting crescendo to that legacy. Ending it here means that Cruise won’t be burdened with the expectation of continually raising the stakes and risking his life. Don’t entirely bet against Cruise doing it, of course, but at some point, it’s good to just go out on a high.