“That’s history. That could be history”: Mission Impossible Star Thanks Tom Cruise for Keeping a Black Man Alive in His $4.1B Franchise in Old Interview

SUMMARY

• Back in the day, it wasn't uncommon for action and horror flicks to relegate minority characters to being canon fodders.
• Thankfully, this wasn't the case with Ving Rhames' Luther, who is still going strong as Luther in the MI releases.
• The actor appreciated Cruise for keeping him on board with the IP since its inception.

Two things that have remained constant throughout all the Mission: Impossible entries are Tom Cruise’s awe-inspiring stunt works and Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell. With the eighth installment on the way, things aren’t looking to shift much, both for Stickell and Cruise’s death-defying stunts.

A still from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One | Credit: Paramount Pictures

Reflecting on the longevity of his stint, Rhames once credited the MI lead for sticking with his character, as the case of Luther was an anomaly, given Hollywood’s history with minority characters.

Mission: Impossible Bent the Infamous Trope With Ving Rhames’ Luther

Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames | Credit: Mission: Impossible 2/Paramount Pictures

For a prolonged period, minority characters were relegated to being cannon fodders, especially in the horror genre, which eventually amounted to the infamous trope of black characters being killed off early. Although things have changed a lot, major horror and action IPs still struggled to shift away from this trope in the ’90s. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case with Mission: Impossible, arguably one of the best action franchises to date.

Ahead of Rogue Nation‘s release, Ving Rhames, who has been playing the role of Luther Stickell for close to 30 years now, credited Cruise for bending the trope and sticking with him in all the releases.

 First of all I thank Tom Cruise because it’s very good to be a part of something. I’ve known Tom Cruise like 18 years. So to think that the African American male is still alive in any sequel even if in the one before this one, I came in at the end of it, I applaud Tom… This may be the first time an African-American male is in any sequel five times. That’s history. That could be history… I’m saying that facetiously but if we really think about it that’s a rarity in the history of American film.

Although the record of a black character with the most appearances in a franchise currently belongs to Samuel L. Jackson, this doesn’t take away from Luther’s impact on the MI IP.

Mission: Impossible 8 Will Once Again See Tom Cruise Excelling at Stunt Work

A still from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One | Credit: Paramount Pictures

Apart from Rhames’ Luther, it seems we’re once again going to witness a jaw-dropping stunt from Tom Cruise in MI 8. The Jack Reacher star, who previously took the world by storm by jumping off the cliff for MI 7, was recently seen filming in mid-air. The photos, obtained by Daily Mail, saw the actor hanging onto the side of a plane, while the production crew’s helicopter was observing closely.

With fans ecstatic about the next entry in the long-running franchise, hopefully, this won’t be the last of Rhames as Luther Stickell.

Mission: Impossible 8 is currently slated to hit theatres on 21 May 2025.

Written by Santanu Roy

Articles Published: 1808

Santanu Roy is a film enthusiast with a deep love for the medium of animation while also being obsessed with The Everly Brothers, Billy Joel, and The Platters. Having expertise in everything related to Batman, Santanu spends most of his time watching and learning films, with Martin Scorsese and Park Chan-wook being his personal favorites. Apart from pursuing a degree in animation, he also possesses a deep fondness for narrative-driven games and is currently a writer at Fandomwire with over 1500 articles.