The Mission: Impossible and James Bond film series happen to be a part of two of the most successful action franchises in Hollywood, worth $3.5 billion and $6.8 billion globally, respectively. While the former comprises a total of six films, all led by Tom Cruise, the James Bond franchise constitutes more than 20 movies starring 7 different actors. And after the legendary Sean Connery, who was the very first actor to portray 007, Daniel Craig, who served as the protagonist in the franchise’s latest reboot, happens to be one of the best.
But if Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and Craig’s James Bond were to have a face-off, who do you think would emerge victorious? Well, Lea Seydoux has the answer to that question.
Ethan Hunt vs. James Bond: Who Would Win?
Ethan Hunt is the righteous and fearless protagonist of the Mission: Impossible film series depicted by Tom Cruise. Hunt serves as the senior field agent for the Impossible Mission task force, a covert operations agency that deals with dangerous international threats and missions. Be it sprinting on the top of a high-speed train or chasing his enemy in a helicopter through valleys, Hunt is as audacious as they come. And the fact that 60-year-old Cruise performed all these stunts in real life only adds more thrill to it all.
Then there’s Daniel Craig‘s James Bond, a devoted British Secret Service agent, an unrivaled spy, and of course, an infamous womanizer. Like Hunt, who’s known to be a man of many talents, Agent 007 too, excels at numerous sports including martial arts, diving, and shooting, to list a few. But would Bond be able to beat Hunt in a fight? Apparently not.
Lea Seydoux, a French actress who’s had the pleasure of collaborating with both Cruise (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and Craig (Spectre; No Time to Die), gave an unbiased answer as to which agent out of the two would be a more formidable opponent and it looks like Ethan Hunt would effortlessly win against Bond.
“Tom Cruise, of course,” Seydoux, 37, said in response to Graham Norton’s question about Hunt defeating Agent 007, during the promotion of her 2021 James Bond film starring Craig.
Lea Seydoux on the Progression of Female Roles in Bond Films
The Bond franchise has had a rather nasty history of indulging in misogynistic plotlines, wherein the female characters are objectified to be mere “s*x objects,” with a hero who is himself a notorious womanizer as well as a sexist. But things have evolved quite significantly, albeit slowly, over the years, especially after the franchise’s reboot which stars the 55-year-old Knives Out actor.
While promoting No Time to Die on The Graham Norton Show, Seydoux, who first appeared in Sepctre (2015) as Madeleine Swann, admitted that one of the major reasons why she came back to the franchise was due to the evident development of the roles of Bond women.
In a separate interview with Sky News, the award-winning actress praised the film franchise for the same. “I think that this time the female characters have more depth and are stronger, but not only stronger because they are skilled and powerful,” she said. Big win for the Bond franchise!
No Time to Die is available on Amazon Prime Video.
The Mission: Impossible films can be streamed on Paramount+.
Source: Insider
