Mission: Impossible 7 resolves mystery about Vanessa Kirby's White Widow
Vanessa Kirby returns as Alanna Mitsopolis, aka the White Widow, in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and you might have forgotten about her link to the series' past.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout revealed that Alanna is the daughter of arms dealer Max, who was played by Vanessa Redgrave in the first Mission: Impossible movie. She's continued the family business, as well as moving into philanthropy which is funded by her illegal activities.
Fallout also established that Alanna works with the CIA every now and then as a broker, such as when she helps to return Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) to MI6 in order to exonerate Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson).
But given that her mother almost sold the list of the US government's most secret agents and their true identities to a lot of bad guys, it never did make sense how Alanna was openly allowed to continue her business.
Mission: Impossible 7, however, solves that mystery by revealing something about Max's past. Mild spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the new movie yet.
During Dead Reckoning Part One's action-packed climax, Alanna meets up with new CIA director Kittridge (Henry Czerny) planning to sell him the key that will grant him access to the Entity so that he can control it for the US's benefit.
(It's actually not really Alanna, it's Hayley Atwell's Grace in a White Widow mask, but that doesn't affect what's revealed.)
Before Alanna and Kittridge get down to the business of controlling the world, he remarks that he knew her "late mother". When Alanna makes further demands (well, really Grace trying to make a deal for herself), Kittridge says it's only because of Max that Alanna has been allowed to carry on the family business.
It appears that after she was captured, Max made a deal with the US government to give them intel on the various bad guys she was dealing with. In return, they left her alone to carry on her business and, in turn, allow her daughter the same luxury.
Given the various dodgy dealings we've seen in the US government during the Mission: Impossible series, it's perhaps not a surprise that instead of punishing a fairly serious crime, Kittridge used it as an opportunity to gain more knowledge.
He'd originally have been doing it for the IMF, but it appears that no matter where he moved in the US government agencies, he kept his link open to Max and then Alanna whenever he had to get his hands dirty. It's certainly done him no harm for his career, even if he doesn't get his hands on the Entity key this time.
Alanna's link to the series' past certainly isn't lost on Vanessa Kirby as she told Digital Spy she rewatched a key scene between Ethan Hunt and Max in the first movie for her role.
"It's so strange to think that Vanessa Redgrave played my mother and [Tom Cruise] did that incredible scene with her in the car where she's really playing with him. I watched it a thousand times to try and remotely emulate what she did," she recalled.
For more Mission: Impossible 7 coverage, check out:
• Mission: Impossible 7 review
• Does Mission: Impossible 7 have a post-credit scene?
• How long is Mission: Impossible 7?
• All you need to know about Mission: Impossible 8
• Who was Kittridge, again?
• Is Jeremy Renner in Mission: Impossible 7?
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is out now in cinemas.
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