Hayley Atwell cast in new Mission: Impossible film opposite Tom Cruise

The next Mission: Impossible movie has found its star in Hayley Atwell.

The actor is trading in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (but not the spy life) to take on a lead role in the seventh Mission: Impossible film opposite Tom Cruise, EW has confirmed. Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie teased the news on Instagram by sharing a headshot of Atwell with the caption: "Should you choose to accept…"

Atwell responded with her own tease on Instagram with an extreme close up of a corner of McQuarrie's post. Her caption read: "Mission: Accepted. Though I'm not the sort to follow orders…"

Atwell was most recently seen in Avengers: Endgame, reprising her fan-favorite Captain America role of Peggy Carter. She previously led her own MCU-related spy drama Agent Carter for two seasons on ABC, as well as appearing in multiple other Marvel films. She will once again reprise her role of Peggy Carter for an episode of Disney+'s animated Marvel series What If…? and will appear in Netflix's Criminal, an experimental crime anthology.

Not much is known about the upcoming Mission: Impossible 7 other than that Cruise will return as Ethan Hunt along with Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust and McQuarrie writing and directing. Plus, another Mission: Impossible installment has already been announced, bringing the franchise to eight movies total.

The nest Mission: Impossible film is slated for a July 23, 2021 release, with the eighth set for an Aug. 5, 2022 release.

Related content:

• Next two Mission: Impossible sequels set dates for 2021 and 2022
• Christopher McQuarrie returning to direct back-to-back Mission: Impossible sequels