If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Now we know why Jeremy Renner wasn't in the last Mission: Impossible movie (and why that might've been a good thing)

Don't make a man travel just to meet his fate, Hollywood

Published on Tue Jun 04 2024

Popverse's top stories of the day

Harley Quinn is making April Fools Day 2025 one to remember with a not-so-sweet-smelling DC comic book special
Watch the D&D, Warhammer, Mega Man, and more anthology panel Secret Level from Prime Video, filmed at NYCC 2024
Nintendo's long-time Mario voice actor reveals the secret behind voicing Mario's Dad in the movie (and how it goes back to his original audition decades ago)

Mission: Impossible fans wondering what happened to agent William Brandt in the last two movies in the franchise (after being placed in the forefront of two earlier installments as a primary member of the team) can breathe a sigh of relief, not only discovering the reason — but also that the character’s lack of appearance in last year’s Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One means that the character avoided a quick death.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Jeremy Renner — who played Brandt in both 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and 2015’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation — explained that he had been invited to appear in the 2023 installment of the franchise, but didn’t want to be apart from his daughter for the length of time required… especially considering that he would be appearing in the movie purely so his character could be killed onscreen.

“I remember they tried to bring me over for a week so they could kill my character, and I was like, ‘No, you don’t get to do that. You’re not going to drag me over there and just kill my character!’ Like, ‘get out of here!’” Renner said on the podcast. “If you’re going to do this and you’re going to use my character, you’re going to do it right.”

Renner joked that he “yelled at” Christopher McQuarrie, who co-wrote and directed the movie, saying, “Dude, you’re not going to do this to me like that, you’re not going to do me wrong.”

While it’s not explained why or how Brandt would have been killed in the movie, it’s worth noting that Dead Reckoning does feature the death of another long-running character in the movie franchise: Ilsa Faust, played by Rebecca Ferguson, who had previously appeared in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Mission: Impossible: Fallout (2018). Faust was killed by one of the Entity’s agents, underscoring how deadly the threat was in this latest storyline; it’s reasonable to assume Brandt might have met a similar fate, had he appeared.

The follow-up to Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One — which may no longer be titled Dead Reckoning Part Two, according to rumors — is currently in production with an intended 2025 release date. Maybe Renner could make a cameo, just to smooth things over... as long as no-one tries to take him out in the process, of course.

Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out Popverse's guides to:

And if you're looking for specific franchises or genres, we've also got lists for the:

Finally, if you're a fan of superheroes and not specific to just Marvel or DC, we have overall guides to:

Follow Popverse for upcoming event coverage and news

Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.