AMission: Impossiblemovie from 14 years ago proves that it won’t be easy forTop Gun 3to replace Tom Cruise’s Maverick. For most of his career,Mission: Impossiblehas been Cruise’s main franchise. However, that may no longer be the case since therecently releasedMission: Impossible - The Final Reckoningcould be the last movie in the spy series. Even ifThe Final Reckoningdoes end up being the lastMission: Impossiblemovie, there’s no need for Cruise fans to worry thanks to another franchise.
Because of the massive success of 2022’sTop Gun: Maverick,a thirdTop Gunmovie has been confirmed. This means that Cruise will return as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in at least one moreTop Gunmovie. The third movie in the series could potentially be the last time we see Maverick though. After the 2022 film, some fans think that not many more intriguing stories can be told aboutCruise’sTop Guncharacter. Therefore,Top Gun 3may try to replace Cruise as the franchise’s lead, but 2011’sMission: Impossible - Ghost Protocolproved that will be hard to do.
Mission: Impossible Tried, & Failed, To Replace Tom Cruise Years Ago
A Fan-Favorite Mission: Impossible Character Was Originally Planned To Replace Ethan Hunt
In the early 2000s, many were concerned about the future of theMission: Impossiblefranchise because of Cruise’s off-screen controversies. Leading up to the series' fourth movie, it was believed that Cruise wasn’t as popular as he once was. After all,Mission: Impossible IIIis the lowest-grossing movie in the entire franchise. Therefore,when Jeremy Renner was cast as William Brandt inMission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, it was believed that he may end up taking over as the lead of the series.
Of course, this never ended up happening.Ghost Protocolreceived amazing reviews and grossed $694 million at the worldwide box office (viaBox Office Mojo), becoming the highest-grossing entry in the franchise at that point in time. Because of the extremely positive reception ofGhost Protocoland Cruise’s renewed popularity,plans to potentially make Renner the new lead of theMission: Impossiblefranchise were dismissed. Therefore, this proves that it’s incredibly hard to replace Cruise as the lead of a franchise.
Top Gun 3’s Likely Success Will Make It Even Tougher To Replace Tom Cruise
Pete “Maverick” Mitchell Is One Of Cruise’s Best Characters
Leading up to the release ofTop Gun 3, many fans have expressed their opinion that Cruise should step down as the lead of the franchise. This is a completely different situation to the one Cruise was facing before the release ofMission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Nowadays,Cruise is practically a universally beloved actor and people all over the world desperately want to see him return as Maverick inTop Gun 3. However, a lot of fans think there are a couple of suitable replacements in theTop Gunfranchise.
Fans believe Miles Teller’s Rooster or Glen Powell’s Hangman would be great choices to lead theTop Gunfranchise.
No offense to Renner, but it would have been practically impossible to replace Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. In contrast, fans believe Miles Teller’s Rooster or Glen Powell’s Hangman would be great choices to lead theTop Gunfranchise. This is easier said than done though. Just likeMaverick, it’s likely thatTop Gun 3will be a massive success and fans will once again be asking to see more of Cruise in the role. Therefore,as was seen withGhost Protocol, it’s possible that any replacement plans for theTop Gunfranchise may be too difficult to pull off.
Top Gun 3 Is In A Better Spot Than Mission: Impossible To Replace Tom Cruise
The Top Gun Franchise Doesn’t Need Tom Cruise
Replacing Cruise in any franchise would definitely be hard, but I believeTop Gun 3may be in a better position to do so than theMission: Impossiblefranchisee was whenGhost Protocolwas released. After the release ofGhost Protocol, theMission: Impossiblefranchise became mostly known for its insane stunts.All theMission: Impossiblemovies are so thrilling to watch because Cruise actually does his own stunts, which is something that an Ethan Hunt replacement likely wouldn’t have been able to do.
It’s worth noting that Cruise flew all the planes himself inTop Gun: Maverick, which is obviously impressive, but that franchise doesn’t require the same kind of death-defying stunts that theMission: Impossiblemovies do. Therefore, a different actor could potentially get promoted to the lead of the franchise without the style of the movies drastically changing. Sincefans already want to see more of Rooster and Hangman, one of them taking over as the lead would probably be accepted by most. Therefore, I thinkTop Gun 3could successfully replace Cruise as the lead of the franchise.
