Would you believe that it has been almost 30 years since the OG “Mission Impossible” released?

It’s been that long since audiences were first treated treated to Tom Cruise performing all kinds of death-defying stunts, from hanging off the side of an airborne plane to driving a motorbike off a cliff as our favorite spy Ethan Hunt.

The eight-film franchise, a spinoff of the TV show from the 1960s and ’70s, follows Hunt as he embarks on world-saving adventures across the world. For those looking to catch up, the first seven films in the franchise are streaming on Paramount+, as is the old series.

With the eighth (and potentially last) film in the franchise hitting cinemas this week on May 23, here’s a look back at all the “Mission: Impossible” films and where the latest one fits in.

‘Mission: Impossible’ review: Tom Cruise’s ‘Final Reckoning’ is a death-defying joy

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‘Mission: Impossible’ (1996)

When we first meet Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in “Mission: Impossible,” the first film in the franchise, the secret agent was framed for the deaths of his espionage team.

“Fleeing from government assassins, breaking into the CIA’s most impenetrable vault, clinging to the roof of a speeding bullet train, Hunt races like a burning fuse to stay one step ahead of his pursuers,” the film’s synopsis says, adding with every step, he gets closer to “discovering the shocking truth.”

Directed by Brian De Palma, “Mission: Impossible” also stars Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Beart, Henry Czerny, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vanessa Redgrave, John McLaughlin, Karel Dobry.

‘Mission: Impossible 2’ (2000)

In the second installment of the franchise, Hunt partners with “Nyah Hall (Thandie Newton) to stop renegade agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) from releasing a new kind of terror on an unsuspecting world,” the film’s synopsis says.

“But before the mission is complete, they’ll traverse the globe and have to choose between everything they love and everything they believe in,” it adds.

Directed by John Woo, the film also features Anthony Hopkins, Ving Rhames, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Sherbedgia, William Mapother, Dominic Purcell and Matthew Wilkinson.

‘Mission: Impossible 3’ (2006)

The franchise’s third film, described by Paramount as a “pulse-pounding thrill ride” follows Hunt as he is “lured back into action by his agency superiors,” and faces “his deadliest adversary yet – a sadistic weapons dealer Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman).”

Hunt leaps from Rome to Shanghai as he races to rescue a captured agent Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell) and stop Davian from killing his wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan).

“Mission: Impossible III” directed by J.J. Abrahams also stars Laurence Fishburne, Billy Crudup, Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Maggie Q, Laurence Fishburne and Simon Pegg.

‘Mission: Impossible’ – We rank every movie (even ‘Final Reckoning’) from worst to best

‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ (2011)

With no plan, back up or choice, Agent Ethan Hunt and his team including Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) “go underground after a bombing of the Kremlin implicates the IMF as international terrorists,” in the fourth film of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.

And “while trying to clear the agency’s name, the team uncovers a plot to start a nuclear war,” the film’s synopsis says.

“To save the world, they must use every high-tech trick in the book,” it adds. “The mission has never been more real, more dangerous, or more impossible.”

Featuring Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Josh Holloway and Anil Kapoor among others along with Cruise, Renner and Pegg, “Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol” has been directed by Brad Bird.

‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ (2015)

“Loaded with heart-pounding action and jaw-dropping stunts,” the fifth film in the franchise is described as “the best Mission ever.”

After Ethan Hunt’s elite organization is shut down by the CIA, the agent and his team “race against time to stop the rise of a new global threat” called “The Syndicate” which consists of “a dangerous network of rogue operatives turned traitors,” according to the film’s synopsis.

“To stop them, Ethan must join forces with an elusive, disavowed agent Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) who may or may not be on his side,” it adds.

Besides Cruise, the film’s cast also includes Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris and Alec Baldwin with Christopher McQuarrie in the director’s seat.

‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ (2018)

After Ethan Hunt chooses to save his team over completing the dangerous assignment of recovering stolen plutonium in the sixth film of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, the nuclear weapons “fall into the hands of a deadly network of highly skilled operatives’ intent on destroying civilization.”

“Now, with the world at risk, Ethan and his IMF team are forced to become reluctant partners with a hard-hitting CIA agent (Henry Cavill) as they race against time to stop the nuclear fallout,” the film’s synopsis says.

Christopher McQuarrie returns as director for the film that also stars Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Michelle Monaghan and Alec Baldwin.

‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning’ (2023)

Securing dangerous weapons and preventing them from falling into the wrong hands is Ethan Hunt’s jam and like “Mission: Impossible” 6, in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” Ethan Hunt and his IMF team embark on a mission to “track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands.”

“With the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins,” the film’s synopsis says. “Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.”

Christopher McQuarrie returns to direct his third film for the franchise. Cast members include Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby and Henry Czerny.

‘Mission: Impossible 7’ review: Tom Cruise fights AI in fun, far-fetched ‘Dead Reckoning’

‘Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning’ (2025)

In what is presumably his final faceoff, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” picks up only a couple of months after the previous instalment with Ethan on a mission to eliminate a digital supervillain.

“The Entity,” a rogue artificial intelligence, has divided people and countries to a staggering degree and Ethan is pretty much the only chance of staving off global nuclear annihilation. The original AI source code is on a Russian submarine at the bottom of the Bering Sea, and Ethan holds the key to unlock it.

USA TODAY’s Brian Truitt gave the eighth instalment ★★★½ out of four, writing “this installment feels different in terms of its emotional stakes and like more of a closure than ever, weaving in aspects of past movies while putting Ethan through the direst of straits.”

“If ‘The Final Reckoning’ is indeed at hand, you couldn’t ask for a better death-defying, free-falling, edge-of-your-dang-seat sendoff,” the review adds.

“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” has also been directed by McQuarrie and features Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Mariela Garriga, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham and Angela Bassett among others.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.