5 Deadliest villains from Mission: Impossible franchise who gave Ethan Hunt a really hard time

The Tom Cruise-starring Mission: Impossible franchise began with the release of Mission: Impossible in 1996. With eight films and hopefully more coming, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, the agent of the Impossible Mission Force, has survived numerous dangerous missions and villains.

Whether to stop an impending global disaster or nuclear war, to try to stop a rogue AI, or to fight a terrorist group, Ethan Hunt and his team were more often than not put into life-threatening situations. Furthermore, some of these situations even proved difficult for the highly skilled field agent due to the villains. Over multiple films and many more bad guys, some villains did prove to be a challenge for Cruise’s Hunt. Here’s a list of 5 villains from the Mission: Impossible movie franchise that gave Hunt a hard time.

Disclaimer: The article is based on the writer's opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

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5 Deadliest villains from the Mission: Impossible franchise who gave Ethan Hunt a really hard time

5) Jim Phelps (Mission: Impossible)

What’s more dangerous than finding out the one you trust the most is the villain? In the first film, Mission: Impossible, Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), the director of the IMF and also the one who helped create the force, was the real villain. He smartly tried to sell crucial information to an arms dealer and frame the new agent, Ethan Hunt, for the crime.

Cruise’s Hunt, a new agent who admired and respected Phelps, was caught in the conspiracy as Phelps successfully framed him for murders he had ordered to commit, and was also declared a mole. Although he successfully won against Phelps, the villain did make it difficult for Ethan Hunt in his rookie year as a field agent.

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4) August Walker/John Lark (Mission: Impossible- Fallout)

Another Mission: Impossible film where the deadly villain appears closer to Ethan than he realizes. After Ethan’s team’s failure and the Syndicate’s escape with Plutonium, August Walker (Henry Cavill), a CIA assassin, is tasked to follow Hunt’s every move so that he doesn’t create more problems for them.

However, it is later revealed that Walker is actually John Lark, a member of the Apostles. Lark and Hunt’s fight in the helicopter and later on the mountain top are one of the best action sequences of the franchise, where till the last moment it was not easy to guess who would have survived. Cavill’s Walker or Lark became one of Hunt’s deadliest enemies in Fallout.

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3) Sean Ambrose (Mission: Impossible II)

Another IMF operative gone wrong, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), was the main villain in Mission: Impossible II. Ambrose was a violent character from the start - from breaking necks to cutting fingers, he posed as a terrifying threat.

Even Ambrose’s plan of making money was deadly: he planned to release a virus named Chimera and then make money by selling its antidote. After an intense motorcycle chase, the two indulge in a hand-to-hand combat, and at the end, Ethan finally kills Ambrose.

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2) Solomon Lane (Rogue Nation, and Fallout)

Solomon Lane was one of Ethan Hunt’s greatest enemies, who wanted to kill not just Ethan but his whole team to achieve his dream of creating a new world order.

After being arrested for the Syndicate’s crime in Rogue Nation, Lane was still successful in conducting a second attempt at achieving his goals with a rogue CIA agent, August Walker, in Fallout. However, Hunt disrupted his attempt again by procuring the detonator and getting him arrested again.

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1) Owen Davian (Mission: Impossible III)

Philip Seymour Hoffman's Owen Davian has to be one of the deadliest villains in the franchise due to the dominance he held as a villain. Not to forget Hoffman’s menacing performance.

Davian was one of the most terrifying villains, as from the beginning he threatened Ethan while in Ethan's custody, and later, after escaping, he made all the threats come true. He started with kidnapping Julia, Ethan’s wife, and while he tries to free Julia, Davian triggers the microchip explosive attached to Ethan’s head by Brownway. Davian ends up brutally beating Ethan, and when he approaches to kill Julia, Ethan attacks and kills him. Although Ethan was able to defeat Davian, he still remains one of the deadliest foes of the spy.

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