The Mission: Impossible 7 Easter Egg Christopher McQuarrie Says Everyone Missed

Are you really as big a "Mission: Impossible" fan as you think you are? Whether or not you spotted this easter egg should answer that question. On the commentary track for "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" (which can be found on Blu-ray and DVD copies of the blockbuster, available October 31), writer-director Christopher McQuarrie points out a small detail that, in his words, "almost no one on the planet has noticed." This hidden reference comes early in the film's runtime, during the intelligence briefing in which Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) is reintroduced.

As the camera tracks National Intelligence director Denlinger (Cary Elwes), eagle-eyed fans have a chance to spot the hanging portrait of none other than former CIA director Erika Sloane, Angela Bassett's character from "Mission: Impossible – Fallout." Speaking to film editor Eddie Hamilton, who joins McQuarrie for the commentary track, McQuarrie laughs, "I've been enjoying [that], while everybody is picking out easter eggs in this movie that aren't easter eggs [and] references to other movies that aren't references to other movies, they're missing the fact that Angela Bassett's photograph is on the wall directly behind Cary Elwes."

But Bassett's missable cameo isn't just a bit of fan service. McQuarrie describes it as a bit of subtle "storytelling," perhaps meant to draw attendant fans' attention to her absence and replacement.

Erika Sloane succeeded Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) as the director of the CIA after the latter chose to become the director of the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) instead. Now, for some as-of-yet unexplained reason, Sloane has been replaced by former IMF director Eugene Kittridge. If you're confused as to why Christopher McQuarrie wouldn't address such an important structural change in the script of his film, it's likely because it wasn't originally intended to be part of the "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning" story.

"She was going to be the head of the CIA. She would've been in that room with all the other heads of the intelligence community that you meet," he told Variety on the red carpet of the film's premiere. Bassett was signed on to appear in the follow-up to "Fallout" but had to drop out in 2021 due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions in place at the time. McQuarrie is eager to bring Sloane (and Bassett) back in some capacity, potentially in "Dead Reckoning Part Two." He went on to tell Variety, "Angela is too fabulous. ... There's always a plan in the future."

During her "appearance" in "Dead Reckoning," McQuarrie and Hamilton note a moment of visual symmetry in which Sloane's portrait — depicting her ever-critical and calculating demeanor, arms formidably crossed — is mirrored by Denlinger in the foreground as he challenges Kittridge. Perhaps this is meant to imply that Kittridge is as different from Denlinger as he is from Sloane, which would come into play should they manage to bring Bassett back for "Dead Reckoning Part Two."