What you need to remember about Kittridge in Mission: Impossible
Even Ethan Hunt can't outrun his past and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One has a major link to the series' past.
It was confirmed way back in February 2020 that Henry Czerny was reprising his role as Eugene Kittridge for the first time since the first Mission: Impossible movie. Little was known about why he was back, only that it made sense to the plot.
"Early in this process I had an inkling that there could be a place for Kittridge – the tone of the movie, the shape of the movie lent itself to that. I realised, 'Kittridge has got to be in this scene'," writer/director Chris McQuarrie explained.
But if you haven't had the time to rewatch the first movie ahead of Mission: Impossible 7's release, we're here to help with a refresher of just who Kittridge is and what his shared past is with Ethan Hunt.
Who was Kittridge in Mission: Impossible?
Way back in the first movie, Kittridge was the IMF director and he suspected that Hunt wasn't all he appeared to be.
The opening sequence of the 1996 movie saw Hunt and his IMF team on a bogus mission organised by Kittridge to root out the mole in the IMF. After everybody on his team except Hunt died, Kittridge thought he had his man and tried to take him into custody.
Of course, Hunt didn't let that happen and went on his own mission to find out who was the IMF mole working with arms dealer Max (Vanessa Redgrave). Kittridge was on Hunt's tail throughout, but Ethan managed to evade capture long enough to discover the mole was Hunt's mentor Jim Phelps (Jon Voight).
Phelps faked his death during the movie's opening mission and thanks to Hunt tipping Kittridge off to where he was going to be, Kittridge and the IMF were able to stop Max obtaining a list of all of the IMF's undercover agents. Phelps was killed by Hunt after he tried to escape on the Channel Tunnel train.
So by the end of the first movie, you can't exactly say Hunt and Kittridge were friends, but they at least were on the same side.
We haven't heard about Kittridge since, but when we see him again in Mission: Impossible 7, he's now the CIA director. (Quite whether that means Angela Bassett's Erika Sloane has been killed off remains to be seen, but a photo seen on the wall at the CIA suggests she might have been.)
Like in the first movie, Hunt and Kittridge find themselves on opposing sides. Here though, it's because Hunt wants to destroy the "entity" that threatens the world's entire digital network, while Kittridge wants to control the entity for the US's gain.
"Your days of fighting for the so-called greater good are over. This is our chance to control the truth. The concepts of right and wrong, for everyone, for centuries to come. You're fighting to save an ideal that doesn't exist; never did. You need to pick a side," Kittridge tells Hunt in the opening scenes.
It won't be a surprise to learn that Kittridge doesn't exactly convince Hunt to see his point of view. By the end of the movie, Hunt is going after the entity and Kittridge looks set to track Hunt in order to get the entity for himself.
So you can be sure that the two will have another confrontation to come in Mission: Impossible 8.
For more Mission: Impossible 7 coverage, check out:
• Mission: Impossible 7 review
• How long is Mission: Impossible 7?
• Does Mission: Impossible 7 have a credit scene?
• All you need to know about Mission: Impossible 8
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is out now in cinemas.
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