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A series with six installments and two more on their way, Mission: Impossible has had a number of famous faces, but one cameo tends to always be forgotten. With it still very much up in the air on whether the book will close for Mission: Impossible with the release of Dead Reckoning Part 2, it’s clear the action-packed blockbusters can still pull resounding box office numbers. The action-thrillers have had their fair share of jaw-dropping stunts, star-studded casts, and fan-pleasing cameos, including one Tom Cruise regrets killing off. One cameo, however, may have been completely overlooked some eight years ago with the release of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
As attentive fans of the series were quick to notice, one particular character makes a second appearance some fifteen years later, after his short and distinctly mute introduction in the first Mission: Impossible. Perhaps more perplexing than anything else, the character only briefly appears once again, without a single line of dialogue in Ghost Protocol. While it may seem like a throwaway moment of possible fan service, invested viewers wondered if there was more to his inclusion in the fourth movie. In fact, there could be much more to the character’s appearance than initially considered.
Andreas Wisniewski Plays The Same Dunhill Lighter Guy In Mission: Impossible & Ghost Protocol
In the original Mission: Impossible, Ethan Hunt is instructed to purchase a package of the luxurious Dunhill Cigarettes. After purchasing the cigarettes, Ethan is instructed to ask Andreas Wisniewski’s character for a match, which would prompt the character to light a match signaling the pickup vehicle. Once inside the car, Ethan is informed he will have to wear a very peculiar mask if he wants to reach the enigmatic antagonist Max (Vanessa Redgrave). The tension between Max and Ethan is palpable, but they appear to strike a bargain, with Max remarking to Ethan “you’re something of a paradox.”
While it may seem like a joke when Ethan is given the strange and unique black mask in the fourth installment of the series, Andreas Wisniewski’s inclusion in the film may point to something else at play. Particularly, the mention of a Dunhill lighter being Ethan’s signal to meet the secretive go-between certainly calls back to Max. As the only villain in the entire franchise to escape justice, and Vanessa Redgrave’s character having seemingly died sometime off camera between Mission: Impossible and Mission: Impossible – Fallout as told to Ethan by Max’s daughter, there may be more in store for Redgrave’s character. It’s nearly unthinkable to consider a main villain in a series dedicated to subterfuge and clandestine spy networks would die so unremarkably off-screen.
What Happened To Andreas Wisniewski’s Mission: Impossible Character (& Can He Return?)
Andreas Wisniewski’s inclusion in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol feels too on the nose to be lost as a one-off in-joke. With the cast of Dead Reckoning – Part One including Henry Czerny reprising his role as Eugene Kittridge, the very man who broke the news of Max’s plans to Ethan in the very first film, it doesn’t seem too much of a reach to think that Max could make an appearance herself. If that were the case, Andreas Wisniewski’s mysterious character would be the perfect contact for Ethan to reconnect with the presumably deceased crime boss. It remains to be seen if Vanessa Redgrave will return to Mission: Impossible as the paradoxical Max, but audiences might get to see her coy wit on screen one last time.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
