Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie has delved into the absence of Angela Bassett's head of the CIA, Erika Sloane, in Dead Reckoning Part One.
The iconic actress, who received an Oscar nomination earlier this year for her commanding role as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, was due to reprise Erika this summer after entering the Mission universe in 2018's Fallout, but coronavirus had other plans.
Speaking to Variety, McQuarrie teased that there is still a future for her in the franchise.
Related: Does Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One have a post-credit scene?
"It was interesting. She was going to be the head of the CIA, she would've been in that room with all the other heads of the intelligence community that you meet," he explained.
"We're not done with Angela Bassett - Angela is too fabulous, you could never ever let Angela get away, so there's always a plan in the future..."
This comes after Isla Faust star Rebecca Ferguson spoke exclusively to Digital Spy about the most underappreciated element of the Mission movies.
"Seeing Tom Cruise and McQuarrie on set and how they speak - because we don't have scripts, I can see how their brains work together [as] they talk about character," she began.
Related: Black Panther star Angela Bassett to receive special Oscar award
"We talk about action a lot, we talk about needing the stunts and then we build the story around it, but we don't talk a lot about how driven Tom is to create character and the reason why and emotion."
As for the action franchise's incredible longevity, Benji Dunn actor Simon Pegg told DS: "It's all very well to see somebody jump off a cliff on a motorbike, but if you don't care about that guy, what his motivations are, where he's going, it doesn't mean anything.
"Quietly, behind the scenes, whilst everyone is talking about the stunts, they're really drilling down on making characters you can believe in."
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is out now in cinemas.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
