After casting her in her breakthrough in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, director Christopher McQuarrie reunited with actress Rebecca Ferguson on this year’s hit sequel Mission: Impossible – Fallout, where she reprised her role as Ilsa Faust.
The former MI6 agent has quickly become a firm fan favourite in the franchise, so much so that there’s even been talk of the character taking centre stage in her own spinoff movie. However, in an interview with Collider, McQuarrie has revealed that while a spinoff has been discussed, it’s not going to happen.
“Rebecca and I have talked about it, producer Jake Myers and I have talked about it, Tom Cruise and I have talked about it, it’s this … the spinoff, when we talked about it was like, what would the movie be?” said McQuarrie. “We’ve talked about many Mission spinoffs, it’s not just about Ilsa. Mission is so much about the exploits of this character. What would the spinoffs then be shaped like? Would they still be Mission: Impossible movies? So much of what defines Mission is the fact that Tom Cruise is doing all of these crazy things.”
“Rebecca and I were talking about it, and I said, ‘I’ve got a better idea. You’re Rebecca, like let’s give you your identity,’ and I’m developing stuff with Rebecca to be Rebecca,” he continued. “And that’s what I would like to see. I feel like if you make an Ilsa spinoff, it would always be like, ‘When’s Ethan gonna make his cameo?’ And the thing that’s not to be underestimated about the role of Ilsa Faust, is that she is played by Rebecca Ferguson, who is a star. And it is a star that a lot of people haven’t figured out, haven’t woken up to that fact.”
While an Ilsa Faust spinoff appears to be off the table, we could still see Ferguson back as the character in Mission: Impossible 7, although whether McQuarrie will be in the director’s chair remains to be seen, with the filmmaker stating last month that he is undecided about another outing.
The best intentions often come back to haunt you. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) in a race against time after a mission gone wrong. Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby also join the dynamic cast with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie returning to the helm.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout sees Tom Cruise joined by returning stars Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin, Sean Harris and Michelle Monaghan, along with new additions Henry Cavill (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Sian Brooke (Sherlock), Angela Bassett (American Horror Story) and Vanessa Kirby (The Crown).
