The character of William Brandt was planned to be part of the biggest chapter of the Mission: Impossible franchise, but Renner opted out.
In 2011, rumors and speculation had been in people’s minds that Jeremy Renner’s inclusion in the Mission: Impossible franchise with Ghost Protocol meant that he was being set up as someone who could be taking over for Tom Cruise in future films. His character, William Brandt, was even cloaked with a suspicious past in the film. Brandt ended up not becoming a replacement for Ethan Hunt, but he was a very helpful ally. He would appear again in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation as an important factor for IMF that helped deal with the political red-tape of their organization. So, where was Brandt in Mission: Impossible – Fallout?
Deadline revealed that Renner had actually turned down the opportunity to appear in that chapter of the franchise. While appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Renner says that his daughter at the time was still very young, and he was not able to travel far away for the level of time commitment. He also admits that his interest waned even further when he found out that they had planned to kill off his character in that film.
I remember they tried to bring me over[seas] for a week so they could kill my character, and I was like, ‘No, you don’t get to do that. You’re not going to drag me over there and just kill my character,’ like get out of here! If you’re going to do this and you’re going to use my character, you’re going to do it right.”
The Mayor of Kingstown star also admitted he got agitated with writer/director Christopher McQuarrie. He continued with a laugh, “I yelled at [director Christopher McQuarrie]. Dude, you’re not going to do this to me like that; you’re not going to do me wrong.” While Brandt’s role in the action was greatly diminished in Rogue Nation, the character lives on, so now that his daughter is older, Renner is now ready to return to the mega-action franchise. He recently told Collider, “I had to leave that. I was supposed to do more with them. I love those guys. I love Tom [Cruise] so much. We had so much fun, and I love that character a lot. It requires a lot of time away. It’s all in London. I had to go be a dad. It just wasn’t gonna work out then.”
