Mission Impossible: The 10 Best Henchmen, Ranked | ScreenRant
In just six installments, the Mission: Impossible franchise has introduced some of the best action movie characters of all time. In the spy-themes movies, Ethan Hunt and his Impossible Mission Force (IMF) team always steer the proceedings by engaging in the riskiest of missions, but there is always room for the baddies to shine too, especially the henchmen.
Dozens of henchmen have worked for the greatest villains in the film series, but only a few have left a lasting impression in the eyes and minds of fans. The reasons why these henchmen are appealing range from their fighting skills to their intelligence. And even among the best batch, some are more competitive than others.
10 Franz Krieger: Mission Impossible (1996)
Krieger seems like a genuine agent when he is introduced as a member of Ethan Hunt's crew in the first installment. But it doesn't take long for him to reveal himself as a henchman working for IMF founder turned villain, Jim Phelps.
As a henchman, Krieger gives off the impression that he could fit in Top Gun too. He can fly planes and helicopters through the tightest of spaces. Unfortunately, he has moments of carelessness. When he kills his fellow IMF agents, he uses the same knife he used on a previous job at Langley, making Hunt realize that he is the culprit. Krieger's story eventually comes to an end when he becomes a victim of one of Ethan Hunt's coolest bad guy kills. Hunt kills him and Phelps using explosive chewing gum.
9 Janik Vinter: Rogue Nation (2015)
Vinter earns himself the nickname "The Bone Doctor" because of the amount of pain he inflicts on the bones of victims while torturing them. A man of few words, Vinter works for The Syndicate and its leader, Solomona Lane, in Rogue Nation.
As a brute, Vinter consistently gives the protagonists a hard time. However, he doesn't deserve a higher spot on the list because he fails at literally everything he is assigned to do. When he is tasked with torturing Ethan, the IMF star escapes. When he kidnaps Benji, he is forced to let him go because Hunt outsmarts him. And during his final fight with Ilsa, he appears to have the upper hand, only for her to ram a blade into his chest.
8 Richter: Rogue Nation (2015)
The former German secret service agent joins the Syndicate in Rogue Nation and begins conducting high-profile hits. His most notable mission involves him going to Vienna opera to secretly supervise Ilsa Faust. His instructions are to kill her if she fails to assassinate the Chancellor of Austria.
A master of disguise, Richter dons police uniform to avoid getting detected. His stealth movements are also applause-worthy since he manages to kill a few guards without raising any suspicions, yet the opera is being patrolled by several security units. Richter almost gets his target but he's stopped by Hunt's team.
7 Hugh Stamp: Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
Mission: Impossible 2 is critically panned to this day. It's definitely not one of John Woo's best action movies but it has a great henchman in Hugh Stamp. The baddie works with his boss, Seam Ambrose, to acquire the Chimera virus from Biocyte Pharmaceuticals scientist, Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich, so they can sell the cure.
Of all the henchmen to appear in the film series, Stamp is the most loyal. Even when Ambrose slices his finger with a cigar cutter as punishment for a minor offense, Stamp doesn't switch sides. He is able to sniff out government agents with ease and figure out that Ambrose's lover, Nyah Nordoff-Hall, isn't who she says she is. It's only Ethan Hunt who outsmarts him by making him wear an "Ethan" skin mask. Believing he is the IMF agent, Ambrose kills him.
6 Marius Wistrom: Ghost Protocol (2011)
Working with villain Kurt Hendricks in Ghost Protocol, Marius Wistrom attempts to use a broadcasting center in India to access a satellite that will trigger a nuclear attack. While attempting to do that, he kills and kidnaps anyone who interferes.
Wistrom is portrayed as a capable fighter who doesn't rely on weapons. He almost strangles Brandt to death, one of the best IMF agents in Mission: Impossible, before Benji intervenes. Wistrom is also part of the reason why the movie is so memorable. His chase scene with Hunt during the Dubai sandstorm not only paints him as an elusive secondary antagonist, but one full of endurance.
5 John Musgrave: Mission Impossible III (2006)
IMF Operations Manager John Musgrave is revealed to be a double-agent in Mission: Impossible III. The spy spends most of the movie as the henchman for terrorist Owen Davian.
In what is unusual for henchmen, Musgrave has more brains than brawn. He makes Ethan Hunt think that the only way to save his kidnapped lover is to deliver Rabbit's Foot to Davian. While his preference for not using force is admirable, Musgrave appears lower on the list because he underestimates both Hunt and his lover, Julia. In the end, it's Julia who kills him.
4 Ulrich: Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
Despite being arguably the weakest movie in the franchise, Mission: Impossible 2 has a couple of great henchmen and another one is Ulrich. The ever-serious ex-agent never says a word.
Ulrich is involved in several great action sequences in the movie, including parachuting out of a plane after terminating Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich. He is also part of one of the best Mission Impossible chase scenes, in which he goes after Ethan Hant when he escapes from Ambrose's base in Sidney. Ulrich flaunts his shooting skills, almost killing Hunt. Fans of the henchman can take pride in the fact that he doesn't get killed by the hero, but succumbs to injuries sustained from a car accident.
3 Brownway: Mission Impossible III (2006)
He has perhaps one of the coolest henchman names and he wears a nose bandage just to look even cooler. Appearing in Mission: Impossible III, Brownway faces off a number of times against IMF operatives, Lindsey Farris and Ethan Hunt.
Brownway wields more power compared to the average movie henchman and he is shown to have several other baddies under his command. However, their incompetence can be called into question since they keep letting agents escape. Brownway doesn't do much fighting, but he has some tense and memorable scenes with Hunt, one of which involves placing an explosive charge inside the protagonist's head. And in a film series where all villains and henchmen normally die, Brownway impressively avoids getting killed when the movie comes to a close.
2 Nils Delbruuk: Fallout (2018)
Another fairly smart henchman, Delbruk creates nuclear weapons using stolen Russian plutonium cores for August Walker and The Apostles. He is later forced by Ethan and his team to spill the secrets.
Delbruuk knows too much, hence several groups try to either kill him or obtain information from him. Impressively, he never gives out any information to anyone. Despite the numerous attempts on his life, he miraculously survives for years and remains a loyal soldier for The Apostles. Ethan Hunt is known for disguises and it takes him pulling off another one to trick Delbruuk into talking.
1 Sabine Moreau: Ghost Protocol (2011)
The French contract killer works for the primary antagonist, the nuclear scientist Kurt Hendricks aka Cobalt in Ghost Protocol. Aware that she is very good at her job, Moreau only accepts diamonds as remuneration.
As a henchwoman, Moreau isn't the one-dimensional type that can only kill. She is a master thief too, and this is why Hendricks tasks her with stealing Russian nuclear betting codes that he plans to use on an attack on San Fransisco. She is also skilled in hand-to-hand combat, discernible from how she holds off Jane Carter during their Burj Khalifa duel. And as a markswoman, she doesn't fire aimlessly either. The assassin takes out Agent Hathaway with just a few shots.