Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two will feature the return of a surprising character from the original 1996 film. After starring in six entries over the past 27 years, Tom Cruise will see the action-adventure spy franchise to its conclusion with a highly-anticipated two-part finale. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One will land in theaters this summer and stars many of the film series' most beloved characters.
Mission: Impossible writer and director Christopher McQuarrie took to social media to reveal the return of Rolf Saxon as William Donloe, a CIA analyst who originally appeared in the franchise's first film. Check out the image below:
Donloe appeared in one of Mission: Impossible's most iconic scenes which saw Ethan Hunt (Cruise) lead his rag-tag team in an infiltration of CIA headquarters to steal vital information. The analyst had very few lines but proved to be a major obstacle for the team as he was the only person who had access to the vault that stored the sought-after data.
How Can William Donloe Return?
During Hunt's heist of the NOC list in Mission: Impossible, Donloe was poisoned to keep him out of the vault. It was only after Hunt and his team escaped that Donloe learned that he was duped. As a result of his failure, the analyst was reassigned from his vital work at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and sent to a polar substation in Alaska.
Although plot details regarding Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning have been kept under wraps, McQuarrie has hinted at several sequences and locales coming in the two films. One major new setting in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two has been revealed to be somewhere in the Arctic. A recent report had the production take to remote frozen regions of Norway for filming. With Donloe sporting cold weather clothing in the new image, it is likely that the analyst is still stationed in Alaska.
It is unclear if the Norway set will double for Alaska or if Donloe will find himself compelled to travel to the Scandinavian country for an assignment. However, Hunt's mission to the Arctic in Mission: Impossible 8, setting the film up for a meeting between the two, may finally give Donloe an opportunity for redemption after he was unjustly punished for Hunt's actions. Unfortunately, audiences will have to wait a little over a year to see Donloe's return to the franchise when Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two premieres on June 28, 2024.
Source: Christopher McQuarrie/Instagram
