Warning: Some minor Mission: Impossible 7 spoilers to follow.
Michelle Monaghan‘s Mission: Impossible arc is one of the more underrated and most surprising of the action/espionage saga. First appearing in Mission: Impossible III, Monaghan plays Julia Meade, the fiancée and then-wife of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. Sadly, the world constantly needing saving has proven irreconcilable with a life of domestic bliss, so Ethan and Julia weren’t able to make it work, although Monaghan enjoyed a cameo in Ghost Protocol and a key supporting role in Fallout.
With Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One now here, it’s clear that this is the biggest M:I movie yet in terms of scale, stakes, and supporting cast, with Cruise joined by a bumper crop of familiar faces including Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Vanessa Kirby. But does Monaghan return as Julia one more time in Mission: Impossible 7? Here’s your answer…
Michelle Monaghan isn’t in Mission: Impossible 7, but it sounds like she could be in Mission: Impossible 8
No, Julia does not return in Dead Reckoning Part One. With Ethan striking up a new chemistry with Atwell’s international thief Grace, reconnecting with Ilsa Faust, and facing the villain who once killed his former love Marie, there’s no room to squeeze in Ethan’s continued complicated feelings for his ex-wife, so the film goes by without a reference to Julia.
And yet, Monaghan fans shouldn’t despair just yet, as the actress herself has potentially hinted at hopes of her reprising her role in Dead Reckoning Part Two, which is set to release in a year’s time. When asked if she was set to appear in M:I 7 by ET Canada in August 2022, a guilty-looking Monaghan admitted, “I don’t know, I don’t know… We’ll have to see.”
While certain cameos were ultimately cut from Part One, including Angela Bassett’s return as Fallout‘s Erika Sloane, Monaghan isn’t believed to be one of them, so it’s possible she was alluding to a comeback in Part Two. The second movie has already been in production for a while, although it’s currently being halted due to the writers’ strike. So, Monaghan could well have been aware of plans for the movie by last August.
Fallout did a tremendous job of wrapping up Ethan and Julia’s complex love story, with Julia moving on with new husband Erik (Wes Bentley), but an appearance from Monaghan in Dead Reckoning Part Two would definitely aid the feeling that the Mission: Impossible franchise is coming full circle as it potentially heads to its conclusion (no one tell Tom Cruise, though, he wants to keep making these until he’s 80).
