Every Major Mission: Impossible Villain, Ranked

The "Mission: Impossible" films began in 1996 when Brian De Palma helmed the first movie, which was based on the television series of the same name. The project starred Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, and wit as a huge success. Now, the franchise is still thriving nearly 30 years later. Each movie features Hunt taking on outrageous assignments to save the world, and he's battled many industrious villains along the way. 

The eighth installment, "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning," received a mixed review from /Film, and it could mark the franchise's end for Cruise. In the 2025 feature, Hunt continues to fight against The Entity, an all-knowing and self-aware AI that's set on world domination. While The Entity is technically the most powerful villain Ethan has faced, it's not necessarily the best. Each installment has multiple bad guys, and some are more memorable than others. From former IMF agents to arms dealers, there's no shortage of black hats Hunt has had to face over the years. 

Here are all the major "Mission: Impossible" villains, ranked. 

When Brad Bird's "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol" was released in 2011, it saved the franchise and gave Cruise's career a new life. Cruise upped his stunt game and gave viewers one of the franchise's most iconic scenes: the Burj Khalifa sequence. Audiences were treated to some daring escape scenes, a Kremlin bombing, and the delights of a newly formed IMF team. However, this action-packed ride has a big weak spot: its forgettable main antagonist.

Kurt Hendricks, AKA Cobolt (Michael Nyqvist) is a Swedish-Russian scientist who plans to start a nuclear conflict between Russia and the United States. The terrorist's goal is to make humanity "stronger" by igniting a catastrophe. While his motives are interesting, there's nothing memorable about Hendricks. A good villain usually needs to fall in the charming/fun category or the scary/ruthless category, and Hendricks is ultimately unexciting. You could watch "Ghost Protocol" 20 times and still forget his name. The fault doesn't lie with Nyqvist's performance, though. Writers Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec gave little substance to the character besides his misguided plans for peace. 

One cool thing about Henricks is his death scene. He jumps from the top of an automatic parking structure in an attempt to get his nuclear device away from Hunt. His plan fails, but it's a fall that'll make you flinch. 

In Christopher McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning," Gabriel (Esai Morales) is introduced as The Entity's liaison who has a past with Ethan Hunt. Considering the franchise had nearly three decades of history to pull from, making Gabriel a part of Ethan's IMF origin felt forced and unnecessary. His motives in both "Dead Reckoning" and "The Final Reckoning" are confusing and don't go beyond being a mouthpiece. 

As for The Entity itself, making an AI program the main villain backs you into a corner, since Cruise can't exactly punch a computer program. AI has become a hot-button issue in real life, but rogue tech isn't a new type of antagonist. An AI program set on world domination is certainly scary, but it's also exhausting. The combination of Gabriel and The Entity isn't enough to make a compelling foe for Ethan. 

Spoiler alert for "The Final Reckoning..." Just like Hendricks in "Ghost Protocol," Gabriel's life does end on a high note. In fact, his death is one of the best in the series. While fighting with Ethan on a biplane, he brags about being the only one with a parachute, only to be immediately impaled in the head by the rudder. The Entity can't really die, but it is now trapped under Ethan's supervision. A fitting end despite being a lackluster enemy. 

John Musgrave (Billy Crudup) wasn't the first IMF agent to betray Ethan Hunt, nor is he the most notable. Throughout "Mission: Impossible III," Musgrave pretends to help Ethan, but is ultimately revealed as the second-in-command to Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Musgrave is yet another villain with misguided intentions. He hopes that if Davian gets the Rabbit's Foot, a highly destructive weapon, it would give the IMF a reason to launch a preemptive strike that could kill innocent people. He tries to frame Theodore Brassel (Laurence Fishburne) in the process, but his plan falls apart thanks to Ethan. 

While Crudup is a great choice for a suit-gone-bad, it's hard to stand out in a film that stars Hoffman as the main villain. No offense to Crudup, but he doesn't have the world's most trustworthy face, so it's not a shock when his character's twist is revealed. Musgrave is ultimately just a blip in the IMF history books, but like most of the lower-rated villains on this list, he does have an exciting death. He's killed by Ethan's wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan), which is satisfying to see from a woman who could have been nothing more than a love interest. 

There are a lot of henchmen in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, and Hugh Stamp (Richard Roxburgh) earns points for being one of the more memorable. The "Mission: Impossible II" underling is the right-hand man of Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), and he's introduced at the beginning of the film posing as a pilot. He causes the plane to crash just to help Ambrose kill one man, so he's pretty loathsome. Unfortunately, he hitched his wagon to the wrong terrorist. 

Stamp and Abrose have one of the most toxic relationships in the world of "Mission: Impossible." Stamp is overly suspicious when his boss' ex, Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandiwe Newton), comes back into their lives. He's correct to suspect her, but he makes a big mistake by sharing those feelings with Ambrose. As a result, his "friend" slices off part of his finger with a cigar cutter. Does this cause Stamp to run for the hills? Nope! He remains loyal to Ambrose, who accidentally tortures and kills him while he's wearing an Ethan mask. 

Shout-out to Roxburgh for being a true chameleon, because he played The Duke in "Moulin Rouge" one year later, and you'd never know it was the same guy. 

Léa Seydoux is no stranger to big action flicks, having appeared in two Bond films as well as "Dune: Part Two." In 2011, her first big franchise role was as Sabine Moreau in "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol." Moreau was an assassin with some major kills under her belt. The film starts with her shooting IMF agent Trevor Hanaway (Josh Holloway), which makes her the number one enemy of his romantic partner, agent Jane Carter (Paula Patton). 

Moreau's time in the film is brief, but she makes an impression. She goes to Dubai to sell stolen nuclear codes but is tricked by Ethan and his team. She thinks she's meeting with Hendricks's men, but it's Ethan and Brandt (Jeremy Renner). When the plan goes south, Moreau sicks her men on the agents. Unfortunately for her, she ends up coming face to face with Jane. Despite orders to keep Moreau alive, Jane kicks her out a window of the Burj Khalifa, which is a horrible way to go.

It's always fun to watch a woman baddie in a major franchise. Moreau is cold, cool, and calculating. She may have met her match with Jane, but she got in a few good licks before her untimely end. 

While many would agree John Woo's "Mission: Impossible II" is the weakest film in the franchise, its villain is a true piece of s**t. Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) is a former IMF agent who is abusive and manipulative. As we established above, he cuts off his loyal right-hand man's finger and keeps a disturbingly tight leash on his recently returned ex-girlfriend. Oh, and he planned to release a deadly virus called Chimera just to make money selling its cure. There are a lot of "Mission" villains who believe their evil acts are to help the greater good, but Ambrose is only out for himself. 

Scott does a good job of embodying the character, but taking on the role ultimately lost him the part of Wolverine in the "X-Men" franchise. In 2020, Scott told The Telegraph that it was Cruise who cost him the part. 

"Tom Cruise didn't let me do it. We were doing 'Mission: Impossible' and he was like, 'You've got to stay and finish the film' and I said I will, but I'll go and do that as well. For whatever reason, he said I couldn't ... He was a very powerful guy. Other people were doing everything to make it work."

Ambrose is a decent villain with some cool motorcycle skills, but Scott got the short end of the stick playing him.

The original "Mission: Impossible" movie villains feel quite tame 30 years later, but they were incredibly personal to Ethan. Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) was Ethan's boss and mentor when he betrayed his IMF team for money. He faked his own death and sent his wife, Claire (Emmanuelle Béart), to continue working with Ethan. Claire has the energy of a classic Bond girl and uses her seductive charm to trick our young lead. It's not exactly an original deception, but Béart is captivating. You can't exactly blame Ethan for falling for her act. 

As for Jim, his betrayal was a huge shock to fans of the original TV series, which starred Peter Graves as Phelps. Many folks were unhappy with the character's turn, considering his heroic history. Imagine how you'd feel if a "Mission: Impossible" reboot made Ethan the villain in 20 years. The cast of the original series hated the movie as a result, and Graves even spoke out about the choice. 

If you're strictly a movie fan, the reveal works quite well and serves as a good origin for Ethan. Bigger and better villains were still to come, but you have to show respect to the originals. 

Paris (Pom Klementieff) is a unique villain within the "M:I" franchise. While many of Ethan's friends and co-workers have turned on him over the years, only one of his enemies has ever switched sides. In "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning," Paris is a ruthless enforcer who works for Gabriel and The Entity. She actively tries to kill Ethan, and the two engage in a close-quarters fight in Venice. When Ethan spares her life, things for Paris begin to change. The Entity foresees her betraying them and instructs Gabriel to kill her. 

Despite a near-fatal stab wound, Paris manages to save Ethan and Grace (Hayley Atwell) at the end of the seventh film, leaving room for her to return as an ally. While Paris spends most of "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" working against The Entity, you can't discount her time as a baddie. She's cool, fierce, and sinister. Paris doesn't say much, but when she does, it's always hilariously off-putting. Klementieff plays Paris with such nuance, and she even improvised one of her best moments.

You don't see many lady villains get a good redemption arc, which is why Paris is one of the highlights of the last two films. If any character deserves their own spinoff, it's her.  

The CIA vault heist in the first "Mission: Impossible" is a seminal scene, even though it almost didn't make the final cut of the movie. Ethan enlists the help of Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Franz Krieger (Jean Reno) to help him break into CIA headquarters to steal the NOC list, which features the names of covert operatives. While Luther becomes one of Ethan's lifelong friends, Krieger is secretly working with Jim Phelps. 

Krieger helps with the vault mission, but he is difficult at every turn. He's nasty, callous, and just plain unpleasant to be around, which are attributes that make up a good villain. The stubborn former operative nearly blows the mission a couple of times. He is scared by a rat, which almost causes him to drop Ethan into the vault. He also loses his knife, leaving behind evidence of their transgression. It's later revealed that he used the same knife to kill IMF agent Sarah Davies (Kristin Scott Thomas).

Once the movie confirms Krieger's true motives, it becomes incredibly fun to root against him. During his big showdown with Ethan, he manages to use a helicopter as a weapon, which is pretty badass. He flies the chopper into a train tunnel and tries to impale Ethan with its blades, but Ethan uses exploding gum to end him first. Krieger died nearly 30 years ago, but he's still one of the most fun villains Ethan has ever faced.

Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) is the first villain to play a major role in back-to-back "M:I" films. "Chrisioher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation" reinvented the franchise, and Lane was a big part of that. The former British intelligence officer led The Syndicate, a terrorist organization made up of ex-covert operatives from various countries. Lane is scary from the first moment you see him. He traps Ethan in a listening booth at a record store and makes him watch as he murders a woman in cold blood. Lane plans to unleash a sequence of terrorist attacks with the hopes of changing the world. 

Lane is the kind of no-nonsense villain that could have ended up bland, but Harris brings an eerie energy to the character that makes him distinctive. He stands out by being calm, devious, and crafty. Throughout the fifth film, Ethan has a hard time proving the existence of The Syndicate thanks to Lane's prowess, and it takes a series of huge swings to finally take the criminal down. Lane does some major damage before being caught by Ethan's IMF team. 

In "Mission: Impossible – Fallout," Lane is brought back into the fold when Ethan is forced to kidnap him while he's en route to being tried in Paris. Ethan is on a mission to stop another terrorist, John Lark, who reformed Lane's Syndicate into The Apostles. 

Turns out, Lane and Lark are working together to kill off a third of the world's population. Lark's end goal is peace, but Lane is more interested in putting the blame on Ethan. Ultimately, Lane is defeated by Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who previously worked for him while she was undercover. Despite being taken down and turned over to MI6, Lane manages to make it out of another movie alive. Surviving two films makes him a unique addition to the "M:I" canon. 

In "Mission: Impossible – Fallout," Henry Cavill is initially introduced as CIA operative August Walker. The Superman star put so much into his performance that Cruise had to ban him from performing one of the movie's scariest stunts. Eventually, Walker is revealed to be John Lark, the "Apostle" with a mission to create a new world order through death and destruction. Before his true self is revealed, Walker has some truly mind-blowing moments. His hand-to-hand bathroom fight has become one of the most notable in the series, and took an "uncomfortably long time" to film. 

Lark has many villainous attributes we've seen before. He's an intelligent traitor who thinks killing a bunch of people will lead to peace. However, there's more gravitas to Lark. He's extremely strong and gives Ethan the fight of his life. There are many epic moments throughout the "M:I" films, but nothing comes close to the third act of "Fallout." It takes a helicopter crash, face-melting gas, a mountainside skirmish, and one big hook to the noggin to defeat Lark. 

You can't talk about Cavill in "Fallout" without bringing up his mustache, which almost became a $3 million problem during "Justice League" reshoots. It's hard not to watch the sixth movie without thinking about how much power that 'stache wielded. 

When it comes to choosing the best baddie in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, there is only one answer. Philip Seymour Hoffman is considered one of the greatest actors of all time, and seeing him chew up the villainous role of Owen Davian in "Mission: Impossible III" never gets old. 

The film marked the first feature directed by J.J. Abrams, who was warned about working with Cruise. It may not be considered one of the best installments, but casting Hoffman elevated it in every way. Released only two months after Hoffman won his Academy Award for "Capote," it was beyond thrilling to see him use his unmatched acting skills in an action movie.

When it comes to villainy, Davian has the whole package. He's scary, smart, and smooth. One of his most underrated moments is when Zhen (Maggie Q) "accidentally" pours wine on his shirt. His response is polite and charming, but he makes a snarky remark that he assumes she can't understand. It's funny, but also a little terrifying. You know that this man is capable of blowing his gasket at any moment.  

Ethan comes face to face with his foe while wearing a Davian mask, which gives Hoffman a chance to eat up both roles. When Davian is vulnerable, he becomes even more chilling. Ethan dangles him out of a plane while seeking information about the Rabbit's Foot, which was a big mistake. Davian threatens to hunt down and kill the person Ethan loves most, and you know he's not playing around. He eventually tricks Ethan into thinking he killed his wife, and it's devastatingly believable. 

Despite briefly having the upper hand on Ethan, the cutthroat villain meets a dark end. Ethan pushes Davian into the street, and he is instantly killed by an oncoming truck.  While his death may have been unceremonious, it didn't stop him from being immortalized as the franchise's best villain.