10 Reasons Why Mission: Impossible Is The Best Film Franchise Ever

Few franchises longer than a trilogy outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been able to wrangle a flexible ensemble of supporting heroes into defined characters in their own right, which makes the success of M:I's roster of good guys such a triumph.

Though initial big name players such as Kristen Scott Thomas and Emilio Estevez were simply limited to quickfire cameos, subsequent protagonists have grown and matured into distinctly human personalities alongside Ethan himself, growing and changing with the franchise's gradual shifts in tone and flavour.

The longest serving is Ving Rhames' Luther Stickell, a veteran of every M:I film to date, but the more curious arcs lie with Simon Pegg's Benji Dunn, Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust and Jeremy Renner's William Brandt.

The four of them only shared the screen once together in full, in fifth entry Rogue Nation, which remains a particularly succinct masterclass in how to wrangle a cast of characters into individual players without leaving them as two-dimensional exposition machines.

Both Benji and Ilsa are confirmed to be back for the next entry - so here's to hoping that both Luther and Brandt, plus any combination of the dozen or so other team members over the years make it back too.