Bet You Didn't Realize What Mission: Impossible's Most Surprising Cameo Really Meant
Throughout the years, Mission: Impossible has had one too many cameos — but the one that was the most subtle and surprising could have a way deeper meaning.
Even if you've been keeping an eye on the Mission: Impossible franchise, it could be hard for you to remember the Dunhill lighter guy, but we'll help.
In the first movie, as a part of an instruction to meet with Max, Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt was instructed to buy luxurious Dunhill cigarettes and ask Andreas Wisniewski's character for a match.
Wisniewski's nameless "Dunhill lighter guy" then lit up his match which served as a signal for the pickup vehicle that would take Ethan to Max.
After that, the Dunhill lighter guy wouldn't reappear again… At least, in the next dozen and three years.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol featured a cameo from Andreas Wisniewski, and back then, it only looked like a fun wink to the fans — like, "Hey, remember the Dunhill lighter guy?"
But with a new cameo in Dead Reckoning – Part I, Wisniewski's appearance in Ghost Protocol suddenly doesn't seem that random anymore.
In Dead Reckoning – Part I, Henry Czerny will return to once again play Eugene Kittridge, the man who revealed Max's plans to Ethan Hunt in the very first movie.
Couple that with the Dunhill lighter guy's unexpected appearance in Ghost Protocol, and you might start seeing the bigger picture: these two are connected to Max.
Now, Max was said to have died somewhere off-screen years ago — at least, that's what her daughter told Ethan. But the only villain who didn't get caught couldn't have just evaporated behind the scenes, it's borderline insulting…
And these two cameos got us thinking: what if Max is still somewhere out there?
Perhaps, she will return in Dead Reckoning – Part II to add to the list of people causing massive pain in Hunt's backside; perhaps, she was never truly gone, and the Dunhill lighter guy wasn't there by sheer coincidence…
After all, this would've made a lot more sense than having her really just die off-screen in a classic "F-you car crash," surely.