Here is a cast and character guide to blockbuster sequel Mission: Impossible 2. The original Mission: Impossible was based on the classic 1960s spy series, with the Brian De Palma directed movie adaptation following Tom Cruise’s Agent Hunt as he’s framed for the murder of his IMF team and must clear his name. It proved to be a major success and would blossom into a long-running series, with the most recent entry being 2019’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

The original was alway intended to kick off a franchise for Cruise, with the mantra being that each entry would bring on a new filmmaker to put their unique stamp on it. After Oliver Stone was briefly attached, action auteur John Woo (Face/Off) was selected for the director’s seat. Woo would bring his trademark flourishes to the sequel, including slow-motion, melodrama and lots of doves. Mission: Impossible 2 was also a big step in the evolution of Tom Cruise into an action star, as it was heavily promoted that he did nearly all of his stunts, which became a franchise staple. While Woo’s sequel is a guilty pleasure, it’s also very much of its era and is considered one of the weaker entries in the series.

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Here’s a guide to the main characters of Mission: Impossible 2 and the actors who play them.

Tom Cruise – Ethan Hunt

Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick) returns as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible 2, who is tasked with recruiting thief Nyah to infiltrate rogue IMF agent Sean Ambrose’s operation. Ethan falls for Nyah during the mission, which makes things very personal when her cover is blown.

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Thandie Newton – Nyah Nordoff-Hall

Thandie Newton (Westworld) plays expert thief Nyah in Mission: Impossible 2, an ex-flame of Ambrose who is recruited by IMF to rekindle the romance so his plans for the Chimera virus can be uncovered. Nyah and Ethan start a romance leading a very bloody love triangle.

Dougray Scott – Sean Ambrose

Dougray Scott (Batwoman) is M: I 2’s villain Sean Ambrose, who worked as Ethan’s doppelganger in the IMF for certain missions. Ambrose intends to create an epidemic to profit off the chaos and while he’s ruthless in his methods he’s shown to have genuine feelings for Nyah.

Ving Rhames – Luther Stickell

Ving Rhames returns from the original Mission: Impossible as computer expert Luther, who is recruited by Ethan alongside helicopter pilot Billy Baird (John Polson) for his IMF team. Luther provides tech support and eventually cover fire in the finale.

Brendan Gleeson – John C. McCloy

Brendan Gleeson (Safe House) is John C. McCloy in Mission: Impossible 2, the CEO of Biocyte Pharmaceuticals. Biocyte created the Chimera virus and McCloy becomes a reluctant business partner of Ambrose when the latter blackmails him.

Rade Šerbedžija – Vladimir Nekhorvich

Tom Cruise’s Eyes Wide Shut co-star Rade Šerbedžija plays Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich, an old friend of Ethan who was forced to create the Chimera virus. He is killed in the movie’s opening by Ambrose, who was disguised as Ethan, but he reappears throughout Mission: Impossible 2 in the form of flashbacks and video footage.

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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.

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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