A Mission: Impossible Series Easter Egg Is Hiding In Rogue Nation's Opening Credits

In the mid-1990s, when Tom Cruise accepted Paramount Pictures' offer to bring his then-new production company to the studio and pick a project to develop, Cruise expressed a desire to take on a long-gestating big-screen adaptation of the "Mission: Impossible" TV series. Although the "Mission: Impossible" films under Cruise's stewardship have never sought to completely distance themselves from the series, they initially did look toward carving their own path away from it. 

This change of direction was boldly stated by the use of the TV show's longstanding protagonist, Jim Phelps, being revealed as the villain of the 1996 film. For the next several installments of the "M:I" franchise, each movie took a unique approach to the exploits of IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (played by Cruise). The only connective tissue between films, besides the appearance of Hunt and fellow team member Luther (Ving Rhames), were a couple of elements retained from the original series, such as a mission briefing that self-destructs and that iconic Lalo Schifrin theme tune.

That all began to change once Christopher McQuarrie entered the picture, initially as a ghost writer on 2011's "Ghost Protocol." The movie brought back not just Luther, but Benji (Simon Pegg) and Julia (Michelle Monaghan) from "M:I-III," establishing a new precedent for the series as a more inclusive universe than it had been previously. It's a trend that continued with McQuarrie's first official scripted and directed installment, 2015's "Rogue Nation," a film that not only contained a few references to prior "Mission" movies, but also some sly Easter Eggs that paid homage to the original TV series. 

One of those Easter Eggs is an entire scene, which you can read more about here. The other is a little harder to spot, as it's hidden inside the film's opening credit montage. It's a fitting inclusion, because it finally brings in an element from the TV show that, like the theme song and a self-destructing message, used to appear in every single episode.

As is tradition in the "Mission: Impossible" series, the opening title sequence of "Rogue Nation" shows up after a thrilling, stunt-filled cold open, in which Ethan manages to retrieve some nerve gas by climbing inside an A400 Airbus cargo plane as it's taking off. When the titles begin, they utilize a format which has been featured in most (but not all) of the "Mission: Impossible" films: a rapid-fire montage of scenes and shots that will be seen later in the movie. This is yet another element from the TV series that made it into the movie series, as every episode would begin with a similar "preview" montage of scenes from the episode to follow.

Hidden amongst these glimpses of Ethan, Luther, and the rest of the IMF team in action is a blink-and-you 'll-miss-it shot of a simple black leather file folder with the words "Impossible Missions Force" on it. While to the casual fan this may simply seem to be a generic prop thrown into the montage for a little spice, those in the know will recognize it as the folder that appeared in every episode of the TV series. 

The usual order of a "Mission: Impossible" episode's opening would go like this: the team leader (Steven Hill's Dan Briggs in the first season; Peter Graves' Jim Phelps in the rest of the series) would get the mission briefing from some recording device hidden in plain sight somewhere, then he'd go back to his apartment headquarters and rifle through various headshots and files on potential IMF team members. Upon selecting the team lineup for the mission, he'd throw the folder containing the agent files on a table, the camera zooming in on it, whereupon the episode's writer and director would be credited.

As previously mentioned, each "Mission: Impossible" film included several of these opening sequence elements: the mission briefing, the theme song, a montage of scenes to come, and a fuse being lit. So, by including the folder in the opening titles, McQuarrie was finally completing the film series' homage to the original series by allowing every recurring element of the show to make an appearance!

One last little bit of trivia regarding the IMF folder Easter Egg in "Rogue Nation" is that it's entirely possible that the shot of the folder isn't merely a reference to the original series, but might indeed be straight from the series itself. During his commentary track for "Rogue Nation," McQuarrie was keen to point out the appearance of the folder, but didn't specify whether the folder shot was newly produced along with the main titles or if it was lifted right from the vintage episodes themselves.

If, in fact, the shot of the folder was taken from the footage of the show itself, it would ironically only further McQuarrie's homage to the series. That's because, as the show continued, it became obvious to the keen eye that the shot of the leather IMF folder was the same one repeated numerous times. So, this would make the folder's appearance both an Easter Egg and a bit of an inside joke, which is neat.

What is unequivocal is that the folder's inclusion in the "Rogue Nation" opening credits further cements the series' relationship to the original series. With this month's "The Final Reckoning" just around the corner, it remains to be seen whether McQuarrie will include even more references to the show, hidden or otherwise. Yet for those of us who are fans of both the movies and the show, it's a little thrill to think of Ethan, Luther, Benji, and Ilsa existing in the same world as Rollin Hand, Cinnamon Carter, Barney Collier, and Willy Armitage. Given the large age gap between the show and the films, it's unlikely at this point that any original series actor could make a cameo, but who knows ... it's not impossible.