Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning Deleted Scene

The Impossible Mission of Being Friends with Ethan Hunt

INT. AIR DUCT – NIGHT

BENJI and LUTHER lie uncomfortably in a dust-choked A/C vent. They both anxiously watch an iPad displaying black-and-white footage of Ethan Hunt.

BENJI :

No..No.. No…EThann…(To Luther) He’s jumping off the observatory.

LUTHER

Didn’t we blow that up?

BENJI

That was the main one. This is the “redundant structure.” (groaning as he shifts). I never thought this is how my life would turn out.

LUTHER

Me neither. I graduated at the top of my class from MIT, and I’ve created and hacked into some of the most secure networks in the world. I should be on a beach right now without a single care in the world.

BENJI

Can I ask you something?

LUTHER (resigned)

No. But go on.

BENJI

You’ve known Ethan the longest.

You ever just… hang out? Like outside of missions?

LUTHER

Define “hang out.”

BENJI

Pizza? Movie? A laugh?

LUTHER

We had a beer…Once. But technically, that pier was right where I was working. He just kinda showed up. No plans. Come to think of it, I don’t think Ethan has ever watched a movie.

BENJI

Oh god. That’s a red flag. I asked him what his favorite movie was, and he just stared at me and said, “What’s yours?” I honestly was too scared to answer, so I dropped it. I mean, I don’t even know where he’s from.

LUTHER

He told me once he was from Newark. Another time it was Nebraska. I swear I heard him tell Brandt, his parents were a diplomats and then an hour later he said they were horse trainers.

BENJI

Brandt?! Whatever happened to Brandt?

LUTHER

He got out.

BENJI

What do you mean “out”?

LUTHER

I mean he took a job. Like a real one. Lives in Denver. Has a golden retriever.

BENJI

I haven’t gotten paid in years.

LUTHER

Technically, we’ve been disavowed since 2015.

BENJI

I’ve been erased from every system on Earth… except Blue Cross Blue Shield. I don’t know how they are able to find me when I’m late on a bill.

They lie in silence. Something explodes distantly through the ductwork.

BENJI

Do you ever think about leaving?

LUTHER

Every year. On my birthday. Which, by the way, Ethan has never acknowledged.

BENJI

I had a plan after Prague. I was gonna open a café—vinyl records in the front, cortados in the back, call it CUP O’ VINYL.

LUTHER

Why didn’t you?

BENJI

I was just about to tell Ethan and he looked me in the eye and said, “You’re the only one who can do this.” I believed him.

Beat. Luther shifts, tone changes.

LUTHER

Trust me, you don’t want a normal life. I helped raise a little girl once. Neighbor’s kid. Her mum was deployed. I did lunchboxes, homework, bedtime stories. Went out for an Op in Bogotá, I still haven’t been back. Now I watch someone else’s photos of her on Instagram.

BENJI (softly)

I didn’t know that.

LUTHER

You never asked.

BENJI

Technically, I’m not allowed to.

Long silence.

BENJI

What is the Entity?

LUTHER

Sentient code? I’ve thought about it, A LOT. I still don’t get it.

BENJI

You ever wear a mask…off the clock?

LUTHER

Drake, just so I could sit courtside at the NBA Finals.

BENJI

Sweet.

SUDDENLY, Ethan pops his head through the grate. He passes them a bag with a severed hand.

ETHAN

Run prints on this.

He’s gone before they can say a word.

BENJI and LUTHER stare at the severed hand.

BENJI

I envy this guy.

---

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