Why Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning's A.I. Villain Has The Cast & Director Freaked Out

There's no question that the timing of the "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" premiere couldn't be any more perfect considering the public conversation about the film's digital villain.

In "Dead Reckoning Part One," Impossible Mission Force agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team of operatives are searching for two halves of a key that, when interlocked, provide the only means of controlling an artificial intelligence system dubbed "The Entity." Since the A.I. system has become self-aware and weaponized, its capabilities threaten the entire globe.

In a way, "Dead Reckoning Part One" is similar to "T3: Rise of the Machines" – the futuristic third film in the "Terminator" franchise where self-aware AI turns on its human creators. However, the talent behind "Mission: Impossible" told The Hollywood Reporter at the film's premiere in New York City (before the SAG-AFTRA strike) how the A.I. plotline eerily reflects current events.

"I remember [director Christopher McQuarrie] talking about it early on, and I thought, 'Oh, that's a really good sort of science fiction-y idea.' 'Mission: Impossible' has always had that edge of sci-fi, you know, because the tech is always way in advance of where we are," star Simon Pegg told THR. "And I felt like this is really on point. This is a clever idea. Of course, the conversation about AI has been amplified in the time that we've been making this movie. So, it's coming out in a time when it's in the social discourse. So, it feels very timely."

THR noted how Christopher McQuarrie had already realized the potentially deadly implications of A.I. when he started writing the screenplay with co-scribe Erik Jendresen in 2018, saying at the time, "It was something that was transitioning from being an abstract idea to being something that people understood. What it's evolved into is — I'm a little freaked out ... to be watching as the movie and the technology were evolving at the same rate is something else."

While the concern behind The Entity, Dead Reckoning's evil A.I., is global destruction, the technology is also on the minds of screen actors for the potential damage it could do to the entertainment industry. Addressing how A.I. has the potential to digitally replace actors — which is one of the main sticking points in the SAG-AFTRA strike – "Mission: Impossible" star Rebecca Ferguson discussed her worries about the technology point-blank.

"A.I. is obviously something we're battling — and people are scared," Ferguson told THR at the film's NYC premiere. "We're living in a world where A.I. is going to be merged into our world, and we have to see where we fit in and how it works and that it doesn't just walk over our jobs."

In addition, Esai Morales, whose villainous character Gabriel serves The Entity in "Dead Reckoning Part One," told THR at the premiere that A.I. is "something we have to be very careful about."

"It can be a blessing, but it's like fire, right? How you use it is all," Morales observed for the publication.

Also starring Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Pom Klementieff, and Vanessa Kirby, "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" is playing in theaters.