Social Media

#Best Villains in the Franchise, Ranked

“Best Villains in the Franchise, Ranked”

From Oscar winners to international sensations, the Mission: Impossible film series has featured a wide array of actors to take on the “bad guy” persona in each installment. Based on the timeless TV series of the same name, Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible franchise is extremely high-grossing, with the later films also getting universal praise from critics. Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Missions Force as he takes on daring missions that go hand-in-hand with ludicrous stunts (performed by Cruise himself).



Dating back to 1996, the films follow the missions of the IMF’s main field team under the leadership of Hunt to stop an enemy force all the while preventing an impending global disaster. While we get fresh faces with each addition to the franchise, some characters — such as Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) — have recurring roles in the films. Speaking of fresh faces — as we await the highly anticipated sequel’s release, here’s a closer look at our favorite villains from the past three decades of Mission: Impossible films.

5 Jim Phelps — Mission: Impossible

Cruise’s status as a certified action star was cemented with 1996’s action spy flick, the O.G. Mission: Impossible, which became the third highest-grossing film of 1996 and garnered favorable reviews from critics. And, of course, it went on to spawn a billion-dollar franchise. James “Jim” Phelps, portrayed by the outstanding Jon Voight, got the franchise off to a solid start as the first villain opposite Cruise. Phelps is a former IMF leader who decides to betray his country after decades of service by selling classified IMF documents to an arms dealer for a substantial amount of money. Phelps unloads a lot of devastation in his wake that includes his own IMF team, his wife, and framing Hunt who looks at him like a father figure. The Midnight Cowboy himself was a perfect fit to take on this layered, villainous persona.

Related: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Trailer Sees Tom Cruise Running to Save the World

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

4 Kurt Hendricks — Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Brad Bird’s addition to the franchise gives us an exceptional action flick blended with humor and drama. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol follows Hunt and his team on a quest to stop a nuclear disaster before it is too late. Played by the late, great Michael Nyqvist, Kurt Hendricks is the Russian nuclear strategist who is regarded as a genius. When he is forced to resign as professor at Stockholm University, Hendricks goes off the deep end when he successfully penetrates the Kremlin, frames the IMF, and plans to steal a briefcase with nuclear launch codes with the goal to destroy the world. Familiar from the original Girl With Dragon Tattoo films, Nyqvist is dynamite as Ghost Protocol‘s ultimate “bad guy.”

3 August Walker / “John Lark” — Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Add some facial hair to Cavill’s towering demeanor, and he makes a terrific villain for the franchise. Mission: Impossible – Fallout takes place two years after Ethan Hunt successfully captured Solomon Lane (Sean Harris, detailed below). The remnants of the Syndicate have reformed into another organization called the Apostles. Under the leadership of a mysterious fundamentalist, the organization is planning on acquiring three plutonium cores. Ethan and his team are sent to Berlin to intercept them with the help of a shady CIA agent (Cavill), who is later revealed to be an ally of the Apostles. Cavill’s layered performance is punctuated with a certain ferocity that has its moment of glory in an epic fistfight surrounded by toilets and sinks.

Related: These Are Henry Cavill’s Best Performances, Ranked

2 Solomon Lane — Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation was a solid addition to the franchise that brought back beloved characters, while introducing us to some new ones. In this film, we follow Hunt on the run from the CIA as he desperately tries to probe the existence of a terrorist group named Syndicate. Rogue Nation‘s villain is Solomon Lane, brilliantly played by the chilling Sean Harris. He’s so good that Cruise and company brought him back for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, a roller coaster ride of action that follows Hunt and his team tracking down plutonium to prevent a nuclear disaster.

Lane is a soft-spoken former MI6 agent who went rogue by helping Atlee hijack a project called The Syndicate, a rejected top secret project within the MI6, which is meant to recruit foreign government agents to undertake clandestine missions without any regulation or supervision by the British Prime Minister. A familiar face from several of Daniel Craig’s James Bond films, it seems Harris is a quintessential addition to just about any spy film.

1 Owen Davian — Mission: Impossible III

Some of us are still in mourning over the loss of Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, a terrific addition to the M:I franchise with his scene-stealing turn in J.J. Abrams’ Mission: Impossible III. The installment that successfully set in motion many of the major changes the franchise would implement later on. It begins to ground Ethan Hunt with a personal life and a wife (Michelle Monaghan), while introducing the scene-stealing Benji (Simon Pegg, who also appears in Abrams’ Star Trek films). After a seemingly unsuccessful direct sequel to 1996’s O.G. film, Mission: Impossible III certainly rescued the franchise.

And of course, there’s no arguing that Hoffman’s Davian is the most evil, violent, and well-crafted villain of the series. His standout scene where he threatens Ethan’s wife’s safety straight to Ethan’s face is a timeless, legendary scene that will be remembered and rewatched on YouTube for generations to come.

If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on Google News too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.

For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com

If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our Social Media category.

Source

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button
Close

Please allow ads on our site

Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker!