Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One's story and end the series. With the movies famously outdoing the last in of stunts and scope, it's likely that the eighth movie will pull out all the stops. And given that most two-part action movies have much higher stakes, a much larger threat, and serious consequences, the two-parter hints at some major fatalities.

Whether it's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which kills off Severus Snape, or Avengers: Endgame, which kills off Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff, two-parters are usually a mark of death. And between No Time to Die and John Wick: Chapter 4, long-running action franchises are increasingly killing off their protagonists. On top of that, as Mission: Impossible 8 is ending an almost 30-year-old movie franchise, the odds don't look good for Ethan Hunt. However, while it has worked for other series, killing off Ethan would be the worst possible way to end the Mission: Impossible movies.

Action Heroes Keep Dying At The End Of Their Series

Keanu Reeves as John Wick aims his gun at an off-screen enemy in John Wick: Chapter 4.

John Wick, James Bond, Logan, and so many other heroes have all died at the end of their respective franchises. And even though he's seen dining in Europe, a theory suggests that Bruce Wayne died in The Dark Knight Rises and it was all in Alfred's imagination. It's easy to understand why this happens in so many action franchises, as sacrificing themselves or dying in battle is the ultimate heroic move. However, it is happening so often that it's becoming way too predictable and unnecessary.

More often than not, there's an easy escape route for the hero, they don't need to die at all, and their deaths end up being arbitrary, such as Jean Gray in X-Men 2. It'll be especially predictable if Ethan dies in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two given that the series has been going on for so long, Cruise is 60 years old, and there's only so much the character can survive. A heroic death or sacrifice is the most typical ending for the eighth film, but the Mission: Impossible series doesn't need to and shouldn't end that way.

Ethan Hunt’s Death Would Ruin Mission: Impossible 8

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt looking mad in Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

The tone of the Mission: Impossible franchise is much more easy-going and entertaining than other action movie franchises. Wolverine and John Wick's stories a generally much darker and they were always going to end with their deaths. However, with the exception of Mission: Impossible III, Ethan's personal life has always been disconnected from the mission at hand, and he has completely moved on from Julia Anne-Meade, his ex-wife.

Ethan's death would ruin Mission: Impossible's whole signature climax too, as every movie ends with Ethan stopping a bomb within a second of its detonation. So a "heroic sacrifice" wouldn't work because if Ethan dies, then he didn't successfully complete the mission and his death would be way more morbid and likely result in many more deaths. With the series being so fun and over-the-top, Mission: Impossible 8 needs a fittingly positive ending that separates itself from other action series finales.