Mission: Impossible has been one of the hottest franchises in Hollywood for three decades, so it’s no surprise that Mission: Impossible has been able to get Oscar-caliber actors to appear in supporting roles. Jon Voight, Kristen Scott Thomas, Jeremy Renner and Alec Baldwin have all managed to steal the show with limited screen time, and Angela Bassett did the same when she was cast in Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018).
Bassett played Erika Sloane, the director of the CIA. She’s the one who tells August Walker (Henry Cavill) to keep an eye on Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), given the latter’s reputation for going rogue. As anyone who has seen the film can tell you, though, Sloane gets double-crossed by Walker, who turns out to be the main villain. Sloane is a pretty standard “CIA boss” in the script, so it’s a testament to Bassett’s screen presence that the character winds up being a memorable part of the film.
So memorable, in fact, that she was supposed to return for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. During a recent interview with Variety, Christopher McQuarrie confirmed that Sloane was written into early drafts of the film. “She was going to be the head of the CIA,” the writer-director noted. “She would’ve been in the room with all of the other heads of the intelligence community that you meet.”
While a specific reason for Bassett’s absence was not given, it’s safe to assume that she was busy working on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). The Marvel sequel was being shot around the same time as Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and Bassett’s involvement was made doubly important after the passing of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman.
Bassett’s character, Queen Ramonda, was given more screen time in Wakanda Forever than ever before, and her death at the end of the second act was a crucial part of the film’s dramatic power. While it would have been nice to see the actress deliver a few killer lines in Dead Reckoning Part One, we wouldn’t have wanted to trade her devastating performance in Wakanda Forever for a glorified cameo. Bassett probably wouldn’t have either, as she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter.
On the bright side, there’s plenty more opportunities for Bassett to play Sloane. Tom Cruise recently announced that he wants to make Mission: Impossible films until he’s in his 80s, and McQuarrie told Variety that he intends to bring back the CIA director as soon as possible. “We’re not done with Angela Bassett,” he teased. “Angela is too fabulous. You could never, ever let Angela get away. There’s always a plan in the future.”
While we eagerly await Sloane’s return, we don’t have to wait very long for Bassett’s. The Golden Globe winner will appear in the Netflix film Damsel opposite Millie Bobby Brown, Ray Winstone and Robin Wright. Damsel is scheduled for release on October 13. She will also lend her voice to the upcoming animated film Wildwood.