Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Sports Bigger Roles For Ving Rhames & Simon Pegg

"Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" has Tom Cruise back in action as Ethan Hunt alongside his trusted team of the IMF's finest, like Luther Strickell and Benji Dunn. And it appears fans of those characters are in luck because it seems Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames will be seeing more action than previous endeavors in the seventh entry of the popular spy franchise.

It's no secret that Cruise has gone all out to ensure fans get an even bigger and better "Mission: Impossible" flick, including several motorcycle rides off a cliff and jumping out of a plane over 500 times. But crazier stunts weren't the only things getting an upgrade. Luther Stickell (Rhames), the computer genius that's been around since the first "Mission: Impossible" film, and Benji Dunn (Pegg), hacker, and master technician introduced in "Mission: Impossible III," will have much bigger roles in the two "Dead Reckoning" films. According to Pegg, not only are fans getting an entertaining experience, but more Benji and Luther. "I know the basic story of the two movies and it's going to be a lot of fun," Pegg said in an interview with NME. "With me and Ving, you know, we've put the hours in now so we'd hope we would get some kind of payback to give our characters their own arc, something really interesting to do, and I think we have that now."

It will be thrilling to see what will happen to the two tech-savvy personas when the film releases after its many delays, but for those frustrated by the postponement, Pegg has a very intriguing take on why the movie was worth the wait.

The path to the premiere of "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" has not been ideal for fans, mainly because of the film's many setbacks and release date changes. It was originally slated for a release on July 23, 2021, but things changed several times thanks to the pandemic. "Top Gun: Maverick" took one of its 2022 dates, which led to a resurgence in the box office, but pushed the spy feature back another year. However, Simon Pegg believes that the "Top Gun" sequel's success has set the seventh "Mission: Impossible" up for a victory lap. 

"I think the success of Top Gun: Maverick has proven to everybody that the right decisions were made in terms of how things have been held back or delayed. Obviously, we need some separation between 'Top Gun' and 'Mission: Impossible,' but they dropped 'Top Gun' at exactly the right moment for it to hit as powerfully," Pegg said to Discussing Film after the release of "Top Gun: Maverick." "By the time 'Dead Reckoning Part One' swings around next year, I think people will be fully back in the movie houses if they're not already, and we'll see something utterly spectacular that's built specifically for the cinema."

And he may be on to something, especially considering Paramount CEOs Bob Bashkin's comments on the movie. According to Deadline, Baskin said, "The movie is insane. It's a complete thrill ride, and Tom, you know, he's very good." Between the insane stunts, CEO approval, and more Benji and Luther, there are ample reasons for fans not to sleep on "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" when it releases on July 14, 2023.