Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning Proves It Isn't Messing Around With One Major Death

Major spoilers follow.

The "Mission: Impossible" franchise was, in its first few films, not a series focused too much on continuity. Each time a film was released, it wasn't just that there were few returning characters, but a different director brought with them a different stylistic palette and a different creative focus. Although there were a few elements that would carry over from film to film, they mostly were limited to the fact that there is a man named Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), he is an agent of the Impossible Missions Force, and he's often the only man who can stop the world from plunging into destruction.

The only other standby is Luther Stickell, played by Ving Rhames. Luther is first recruited by Ethan in the middle of the original "Mission: Impossible," a hacking legend who was disavowed by the CIA and is tasked with helping Ethan break into the Langley headquarters of the same agency. Although Luther seems like his allegiances may initially lie in a more criminal fashion, he ends being essentially brought into the fold as a true IMF agent after the success of that break-in, and appears in all of the other "Mission: Impossible" films. Though the same is true of "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning," and although the marketing campaign may have teed up expectations for this to be the final entry period, it is Luther's last film. That's because within the first hour of this movie, Luther sacrifices himself in a scene that's relatively poignant amidst the chaos.

When "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning" concluded, Luther had gone off to parts unknown to avoid leaving behind a digital footprint from the nefarious AI known as the Entity. He did so before the massive and climactic action sequence that includes Ethan jumping off the top of a cliff and then arriving on the Orient Express to fight off some bad guys, rescue the pickpocket Grace (Hayley Atwell), and fight off the equally evil Gabriel (Esai Morales). Gabriel wants to control the Entity for himself, and is furious that the Entity is, when this new film begins, trying to commune with Ethan to convince him to let it create nuclear devastation across the planet.

Where Luther fits into this is what leads to his death. Luther has holed up in an underground cave of sorts near London, working on a "poison pill" that can essentially alter the Entity's sense of reality and render it inoperable (while also suffering from an unnamed disease that leaves him in a hospital bed). Though Ethan believes that he and Grace, who have reconnected in London, have the upper hand on Gabriel, he learns it's the exact opposite. Gabriel not only knows about the poison pill, but wants it for himself. While Ethan may want to use it to destroy the Entity, Gabriel wants the poison pill to control the Entity, which is why he steals it and sets off a bomb near Luther's cave that's set to go off in a handful of minutes. Ethan is able to talk to Luther one last time, but learns that to disarm the bomb from detonating and killing millions, he'll still have to sacrifice himself and ensure the bomb's only effect is underground.

This is arguably not the only time Luther has come into harm's way; when "Mission: Impossible – Fallout" opens, there's a gunfight in which it briefly seems as if Luther may have bit the big one. But he's survived almost as long as Ethan, and is relatively introspective and at peace about his choice. (If you've seen the trailers for this film and noted Luther mentioning that he has no regrets, you can feel safe in knowing that line comes into play as he's saying goodbye to Ethan for the last time.) Luther Stickell dying, and doing so early, is meant to make the stakes as personal as possible for Ethan. Yes, of course, it's important that he save the world, but when he loses someone so close to him, and so close to the audience that's known Luther for decades, it means something a bit more.

Of course, although Luther is dead, we hear his gravelly tones a couple more times, including near the very end, throughout the film. This is not the first major death in a "Mission: Impossible" film, seeing as many fans are crying for the return of Ilsa Faust after her death in the previous entry. (Do not get your hopes up on that one, by the way.) But in some ways, it hits the hardest. First, it's one of the only real death scenes for any human character in this final movie.

And most importantly, Luther has been a fixture in the "Mission: Impossible" series since the very beginning. The oft-forgotten "Mission: Impossible 2" has no carryover with any other film in the franchise (including nary an Easter-egg-style reference in this movie, which is chock full of callbacks) ... except for Luther. Even in the 2011 film "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol," where Ethan has an entirely new IMF team, Luther shows up at the end of the film to cheerfully mock our hero for having literally said "Mission accomplished!" after thwarting his latest foe.

Luther's presence is felt throughout "The Final Reckoning," specific to the poison pill he creates, as it is the key McGuffin of the jaw-dropping final action sequence. It's not just that Ethan is dangling for his life on two different biplanes in South Africa, it's that he's doing so because he needs to retrieve the poison pill from Gabriel (who's flying one of the planes and wearing the pill on a necklace). It's fitting that so much of the film's biggest set-piece comes down to something Luther created. Even if he's not with Ethan physically, he's there spiritually and emotionally.

And Luther is there in the same spirit with the rest of the team. The initial chemistry between Cruise and Rhames was palpable enough that Luther was a breath of fresh air in the more dour "Mission: Impossible 2," and seeing Luther have to interact with newer agents like Benji and William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) in later entries has added a sense of spunk and enjoyment in a series that could have easily felt lazy or uninspired. That said, if there's any reason why this truly feels like Ethan Hunt's final reckoning, it's that he no longer has one of his closest compatriots at hand.

"Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" does not hesitate to lean hard on callbacks and references to past entries in the franchise, and it has more tie-ins than people may expect to the 1996 original in which we all met Luther Stickell. (You can read our mixed review of the new film here.) That first "Mission: Impossible" started with Ethan Hunt losing the rest of his IMF team and having to clear his name from being accused as their killer. This time around, Ethan has only lost one vital team member, but that loss is as harsh and heartbreaking as anything else he's ever experienced. When Ethan lost his team in the first "M:I," it was only so sad because we barely knew his fellow agents. Losing Luther Stickell is like losing a close friend for all of us, not just for Ethan. The film does right by his memory, but it's still a hard loss.