The MadHouse

As the series approaches its final episode, Marvel’s latest episodes in their newest spin-off series are now available on Disney+.

The 7th film in this franchise sees Tom Cruise as the star and Christopher McQuarrie as director for this epic spy thriller. Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames & Vanessa Kirby return to respective roles and are joined by Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell & Pom Klementieff. In this film, Ethan faces a new AI software with limitless power known as “The Entity”. This software must not fall in to the wrong hands but that becomes more difficult when an enemy from Ethan’s past before the IMF resurfaces. While this film is somewhat struggling at the box office, those who have seen it have positive review regarding the action sequences and performances.

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie both return as star and director for the 6th film in this franchise. Cruise, along with Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson & Alec Baldwin all return and are joined by Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett & Vanessa Kirby. Follow the event of “Rogue Nation”, Ethan and his team are trying to stop The Syndicate’s remaining members who have now Dane a new code name, The Apostles, for launching nuclear weapons on the war but this mission proves to be tough when the CIA get involved and have their special agents “monitor” Ethan and his team. This movie out grossed the previous film and became the highest grossing film in Tom Cruise’s career until “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022.

The 5th film in this franchise was directed by Christopher McQuarrie and sees Tom Cruise return as “Ethan Hunt”. In this film, Ethan and his team are on the hunt for a criminal organization that is made up of entirely rogue secret agents from all over the world, who call themselves, “The Syndicate”. The film sees Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames & Jermey Renner all return to their previous roles while being joined by Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Baldwin & Sean Harris. This film was 8th highest grossing film of the year and the 2nd highest in the franchise.

Tom Cruise is back after 5 long years as IMF agent, Ethan Hunt. This film was directed by Brad Bird, best known for directing animated films such as “The Iron Giant” & “The Incredibles”, making this his live action debut. When the IMF is framed for a bombing of the Kremlin, the agency is disbanded and left with nothing. Ethan Hunt and his team must find those responsible, however with no resources or back up, the mission might more than impossible. The film sees Simon Pegg returns along with Cruise to their respective roles while Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton & Tom Wilkinson join the cast. Ving Rhames & Michelle Monaghan return as well but as glorified cameos. This would would be the highest grossing film in the series for the next 7 years.

JJ Abrams, in his directorial debut, brought us the third installment in this franchise in which Tom Cruise plays “Ethan Hunt”. He is joined by a great ensemble which include Michelle Monaghan, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg, Johnathon Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Billy Crudup, Laurence Fishburne & the late, great Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Ving Rhames returns to his respective role. After one of Ethan’s brightest students is kidnapped & killed, he is forced back into action to complete her assignment which was uncovering & locating a biochemical weapon that was manufactured by an criminal chemist and being sold to the high bidder. This film marks the debut appearance of Simon Pegg’s character who eventually becomes a main staple for the rest of the franchise. Due to scheduling conflicts with Abrams, many of the original actors, who had signed on for this film, eventually left the project entirely. The names included Carrie Ann Moss, Kenneth Branagh & Scarlett Johansson. This was originally going to be directed by David Fincher but he too would leave the project due to creative differences with Paramount.

Tom Cruise returns as “Ethan Hunt” in this action film that was directed by John Woo and stars Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandiwe Newton, Brendon Gleeson & John Polson. Ving Rhames is only person (besides Tom Cruise) to return from the previous film. After a rouge IMF agent steals and genetically modifies a disease, Ethan Hunt must team with a professional thief to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong or worse. After the success of the first film, Paramount quickly went to work on the sequel but went in a new direction with the changing of director & writers.

Tom Cruise’s first outing as secret agent “Ethan Hunt” began here launched an entire film franchise. This film was directed by Brian De Palma and is a continuation of the original 1960s series and its 1988 sequel series of the same name. Joining Cruise are Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Jean Reno & Vanessa Redgrave. In this film, Ethan Hunt is framed for the murder of his spy team and must find those responsible before it’s too late. This would be the first film in a now 7 movie series that began in 1996 and has its latest entry in 2023.

The 7th live action film in this series is directed by Steven Caple Jr. and stars Anthony Ramos & Dominque Fishback as the human characters it sees Peter Cullen return to voice “Optimus Prime”. This film is a direct sequel to 2017’s “Bumblebee” follow those film’s events. The voice cast sees a slew a newcomers such as Michelle Yeoh, Ron Pearlman, Pete Davison, Peter Dinkledge & Liza Koshy. In the year 1994, a dishonored army tech stumbles upon a Transformer in the form of a Porsche and goes by Mirage. Mirage reveals that a beckon from an ancient artifact has been activated and must be protected. The army tech agrees to help Mirage but only after the beckon is discovered by an enemy threat who looks to harvest this artifact and uses it to absorb the Earth. This film marks the debut for characters from the “Beast Wars” storyline of Transformers.

The last episodes of Marvel’s newest series are now available on Disney+.