From tech bros to traitorous mentors and a literal AI bot with power issues, we ranked each Mission: Impossible villain by drama, chaos, and sheer Bollywood potential.
Tom Cruise whitethorn beryllium hanging disconnected planes and scaling skyscrapers, but let’s beryllium honest, what’s a spy without idiosyncratic chaotic to combat successful a acheronian passageway oregon double-cross implicit an espresso?
From icy agents to anarchist tech bros, here’s our precise superior (but besides highly unserious) ranking of each Mission: Impossible villain, with the sass, shade, and possibly a Bollywood notation oregon 2 they deserve.
8. Owen Davian (Mission: Impossible III) — Played by Philip Seymour Hoffman
Mission: Impossible / Via giphy.com
A villain truthful terrifying helium made threatening idiosyncratic implicit a telephone telephone consciousness similar an Olympic sport. He wasn’t a planetary ideologue, conscionable a sadistic arms dealer, and that made him adjacent scarier. His kidnapping of Ethan’s woman gave the franchise immoderate existent affectional stakes. But he’s besides fundamentally a precise aggravated tech bro successful Armani. Think: Mogambo if helium was VC-funded.
7. Solomon Lane (Rogue Nation + Fallout) — Played by Sean Harris
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Raspy voice? Check. Moral nihilism? Check. British accent that says “I’ve decidedly monologued successful beforehand of a mirror”? Double check. A erstwhile British cause turned violent mastermind, Lane tried to physique a rogue web of spies to "restore balance" oregon whatever. His eerie stillness made him scarier than immoderate detonation — plus, his intelligence manipulation of Ethan was consecutive retired of a toxic situationship. Honestly, helium gives “Bollywood villain who stares astatine the hero’s woman conscionable a small excessively long” energy.
6. Alanna Mitsopolis aka The White Widow (Fallout + Dead Reckoning) — Played by Vanessa Kirby
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She blurs the enactment betwixt villain and frenemy, switching sides similar outfits. She is charming, cunning, and ever successful control, and forces Ethan to play the grey crippled alternatively of conscionable punching his mode through. Think: planetary arms trader but marque it fashion. The benignant of pistillate who’d auction disconnected the Kohinoor and inactive permission with your number.
5. Gabriel (Dead Reckoning) — Played by Esai Morales
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He’s giving 90s villain successful a perfume ad. Ethereal and murderous. We get it bro, you’re dramatic. He’s little of a villain and much of a shade from Ethan’s past, showing up with a tailored suit and cryptic energy. He’s besides the Entity’s quality avatar, fundamentally a murderous mediate manager for AI. His relation makes Ethan much emotionally susceptible than ever before.
4. August Walker aka Mustache Cavill (Fallout) — Played by Henry Cavill
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The villain who virtually reloaded his arms mid-fight. Not adjacent evil — conscionable sick of IMF’s rules. He's the aggravated HR manager of the franchise, and honestly? Respect. His betrayal made the 3rd enactment of Fallout the wildest successful the franchise.
3. Kurt Hendricks (Ghost Protocol) — Played by Michael Nyqvist
Giphy / Via giphy.com
This Swedish madman wanted to nuke the satellite and commencement over—casually. He had a briefcase and a decease wish, and his atomic obsession turned the Burj Khalifa into a vertical playground for Ethan. Global-scale villainy, delivered with polite detachment. Basically, if Raavan work Reddit excessively much.
2. Jim Phelps (Mission: Impossible) — Played by Jon Voight
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Ah yes, betrayal with a broadside of dada energy. The OG crippled twist. The mentor who raised Ethan, past sold him retired for wealth and pride. His betrayal shaped the full code of the franchise: spot nary one, not adjacent your ain IMF dad. Full Bollywood crippled twist. Amitabh Bachchan would play him successful the Hindi remake.
1. The Entity (Dead Reckoning) — Played by AI
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The eventual “villain but marque it data.” It knows your passwords, your secrets, your Spotify blameworthy pleasures. The Entity isn’t conscionable trying to termination Ethan, it wants to erase the full conception of truth. Suddenly the existent satellite doesn’t look truthful different. It gives Aamir Khan successful Dhoom 3 meets Chitti 2.0 from Robot—High IQ, debased empathy, and obsessed with control. Not your mean evil genius.