Jeremy Renner turned down a cameo in Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT finally hit theaters last week and it was one hell of an entertaining ride, but it was missing one member of the ever-expanding franchise ensemble – Jeremy Renner. The actor played William Brandt in both MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION, but Renner didn't return for FALLOUT, and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie previously pointed to Jeremy Renner's Marvel contract as the reason why.

Christopher McQuarrie elaborated further while speaking with Empire, saying "Jeremy had his commitment to Avengers, which ironically they ended up not exercising, and we didn’t know what the [sixth Mission] movie was, so we couldn’t provide a schedule. We needed absolute freedom. The unfortunate thing for Jeremy is that he got caught in this perfect storm of, one can’t use you and one doesn’t know how to, given the massive complications they had with Avengers." However, there was a possibility for Jeremy Renner to return for a cameo in the film's opening sequence, but as that involves getting into SPOILERS, we'll tackle that below.

The opening scene in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT found Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickel (Ving Rhames) attempting to intercept the sale of three plutonium cores. Unfortunately, the plan goes wrong as Luther is taken hostage and the plutonium is stolen. Christopher McQuarrie told Empire that the original plan for that sequence would have been far darker as it would have found William Brandt (Renner) dying in the line of duty.

I had this whole idea that the movie would start with the death of a team member. And of course the first team member that’s always the first guy we talk about killing is Luther. Luther died in the first movie, and he quite famously said to Tom Cruise, ‘Hey man, how come the brother’s always gotta die?’ And Tom said, ‘You’re right.’ He was like, ‘Why do I gotta be the bad guy?’ And they made Luther nefarious and then suddenly a good guy, and six movies later it was the smartest question anybody’s ever asked Tom Cruise […] So I said to Jeremy, look we can’t kill Ving, it’s never going to work. No matter how many movies into it, it’s always going to be the same thing. You killed the black guy. And we didn’t think the movie could recover if you killed Benji. So I said to Renner, ‘Hey listen, I have this idea for an opening sequence where you sacrifice yourself to save the team, and that the mission-gone-wrong not only involves losing the plutonium, but involves the death of a team member.’

When presented with that idea, Jeremy Renner told Christopher McQuarrie "Thanks, but no thanks," and the director added that Renner was "smart not to take the short paycheck for three days of work and getting blown up." So, William Brandt lives to fight on in another sequel.

The official synopsis for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT:

The best intentions often come back to haunt you.  Mission: Impossible – Fallout finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) in a race against time after a mission gone wrong.  Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby also join the dynamic cast with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie returning to the helm.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT is now playing in theaters. Also, be sure to check out reviews from our own Chris Bumbray and JimmyO, and let us know what you thought of the film!