How to watch
The Mission: Impossible movies in the correct order
Your ultimate guide to watching Mission: Impossible in the right order 🎯
Last updated: July 8 2025
Written by: ChronoChris
Mission Impossible is a high-stakes action spy franchise based on the 1966 TV series. Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, an elite agent in the Impossible Mission Force (IMF), known for performing daring stunts and uncovering global conspiracies.
Explosions, gadgets, betrayals, and epic stunts—Mission: Impossible delivers nonstop thrills. But with seven films spanning nearly three decades and more sequels coming, new viewers might wonder: is there a right way to watch them?
The good news? Mission: Impossible movies mostly follow a chronological timeline. Watching them in release order is the best way to follow Ethan Hunt’s evolution, IMF's changing dynamics, and recurring villains like Solomon Lane.
📅 Release & Chronological Order
The release order is also the chronological order for this series. Each movie builds on the last with increasing stakes, personal challenges, and intricate plots.
- Mission: Impossible (1996)IMDb
- Mission: Impossible II (2000)IMDb
- Mission: Impossible III (2006)IMDb
- Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)IMDb
- Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)IMDb
- Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)IMDb
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)IMDb
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two (TBA)IMDb
Each film adds new characters, but Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt remains the franchise's heart and soul. From the Langley heist to helicopter chases and HALO jumps, the action never lets up.
Should You Watch the TV Series First?
The original *Mission: Impossible* (1966–1973) and its 1988 reboot exist in the same universe, but aren't essential viewing. The films stand on their own and only loosely connect to the shows.
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