I think one of the reasons why Mission is such a love of my life is the training. It’s not knowing what I’m in for in the next film: Rebecca Furguson

Tom Cruise is all set to sizzle the silver screen once again and take the global box office by storm with his next massive outing - Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1. The film has been one of 2023's most anticipated releases and is expected to release pan-India in Hindi, English, Tamil, and Telugu on July 12.

Another franchise veteran that returns in Dead Reckoning Part One is Rebecca Ferguson, who joined the series in McQuarrie’s first Mission as director – Rogue Nation – and swiftly cemented her character Ilsa Faust as an integral and absorbing piece of the jigsaw. Ilsa’s alternatingly combative and close dynamic with Ethan having morphed, come the end of Fallout, into what feels like a genuine connection.

McQuarrie, Cruise, and Ferguson have all steadfastly refused to let the relationship between Ilsa and Ethan slip into the tropes that have often plagued the spy genre in the past. And that commitment is still very much alive and kicking in Dead Reckoning Part One. “I was never interested in Ilsa just being a typical love interest for Ethan,” McQuarrie says.

“For years we’ve talked about the relationship between them because it’s so complex,” echoes Ferguson. “The bond between these two people has been born of trauma and chaos – these are emotions that go beyond any form of a love affair or kinship. Ilsa and Ethan have this pure urge to protect and support , but also to have their own rights, to be right in their own ways. It’s a fascinating dynamic to play.”

Their unique relationship will continue to evolve as the story dynamic changes in this film. McQuarrie explains, “We wanted this Mission to have a sense of adventure and romance – to move away from the more serious-feeling movies we’d made prior to this, Rogue Nation and Fallout.”

Ferguson says that of the three Mission movies she’s starred in so far, Dead Reckoning Part One has seen her pull off her most impactful action sequences – “What’s the point in doing a Mission movie if you’re not going to do the odd stunt?” she says. “I think one of the reasons why Mission is such a love of my life is the training. It’s not knowing what I’m in for in the next film,” she says. “I love the fact that you never know what is going to be asked of your character to train. Whether it is a knife fight or a gunfight or its martial arts or perhaps a sword fight, which was introduced in this for me.”

Crucially, Ferguson also believes that this Mission has mined the deepest emotional fissures by far. “Now we’ve hit the third film , there are a lot of personal issues that are dealing with,” she says. “There’s more of the darker aspect of each character in this Mission.”

A Paramount Pictures and Skydance Presentation, A Tom Cruise Production “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE” is all set to release pan India on July 12 in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.