Glen Powell Answers ‘Mission Impossible’ Question With Mom Joke

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Rising A-list movie star Glen Powell has responded to rumors that Tom Cruise would like him to take over as the lead of the Mission: Impossible franchise. Earlier this week, the trailer for the eighth film in the franchise Mission: Impossible was released and made it seem like it would be the climactic conclusion for Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt.

While the source of the rumor is a fugazi entertainment industry “insider” that constantly perpetuates fake stories, the chatter about Glen Powell taking over the Mission franchise built up enough steam that the perpetually online crew at The Pat McAfee Show caught wind of it and asked the actor during an appearance on the program on Tuesday, November 12.

Powell, displaying the sort of unteachable movie star charm that allows him to humorously avoid the question while also not outright ruling it out, told McAfee that his “mom would never let him” do such a thing, likely a reference to the intense stunt work that comes with starring in the stalwart action franchise.

The notion that Powell is Cruise’s hand-picked Hollywood heir apparent has been widely reported on for a couple of years now. However, the Mission: Impossible franchise already tried and failed to hand the franchise to a new star when they tried to pass the reigns to Jeremy Renner (Renner also unfortunately had a similar experience with the Bourne franchise — ouch).

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, hitting theaters on May 23, 2025, will star Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, and Shea Whigham, who all featured in 2020’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning.

Additional new cast members include Charles Parnell, Katy O’Brian, Hannah Waddingham, Holt McCallany, Nick Offerman, and more. Check out the official teaser trailer for the film below.

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