Here’s the correct, chronological order of the Mission: Impossible movie franchise. Mission: Impossible is an iconic spy show that began in the 1960s and revolved around the covert missions of the IMF. The series starred Peter Graves as Jim Phelps, with supporting players including the likes of Leonard Nimoy and Martin Landau. The show was later given a short-lived revival in the 1980s before Tom Cruise signed on to lead a movie adaptation in the 1990s.

Prior to Mission: Impossible Tom Cruise tended to jump around genres, starring in dramas, comedies and everything in-between. As the franchise evolved he became more and more associated with action blockbusters and for his death-defying stunts. The Mission: Impossible movies has arguably overtaken the original TV show in terms of iconic status, and shows no sign of stopping just yet. Cruise is currently attached to parts seven and eight, and will presumably keep going until audiences stop watching.

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Outside of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and the forthcoming Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise has tended to shun follow-ups throughout his career. While Mission: Impossible was developed as a potential franchise from the very beginning, it was intended that each movie would bring on a new filmmaker who would bring their own distinct style. This is likely one reason it’s lasted for nearly 25 years, with each entry having its own feel. Here’s the correct viewing order for the franchise.

  • Mission: Impossible (1996)
  • Mission: Impossible II (2000)
  • Mission: Impossible III (2005)
  • Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
  • Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
  • Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Brian De Palma brought his stylish stamp to the original movie, while action auteur John Woo came on for the sequel after Oliver Stone passed. Mission: Impossible II has aged the worst and is generally considered the weakest, though it’s still entertaining in its own right. J.J. Abrams made his directorial debut with Mission: Impossible III after David Fincher and Joe Carnahan both dropped out, which attempted to bring a more emotional side to Ethan Hunt.

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The first three entries are easy to track in terms of chronology thanks to their handy roman numerals, but Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol changed things up. Acclaimed animation director Brad Bird made his live-action debut with the fourth entry, but while the original plan was to have Hunt step aside for Jeremy Renner’s new agent, it quickly became clear Cruise was still very much the lead, especially after filming the series’ most famous setpiece where Hunt scales Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

Christopher McQuarrie came on to direct the fifth movie Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation in 2015, which introduced Rebecca Ferguson’s fan favorite Ilsa Faust to the series. In a break from franchise tradition, McQuarrie returned for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which became the highest-grossing and is considered one of the franchise’s best. McQuarrie will return once again for the upcoming seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible movies, with the next movie currently set to arrive in November 2021.

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Padraig Cotter
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It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

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He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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