Chris McQuarrie: “Fan Service Is Poison”

Currently out promoting “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” some old comments from filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie have resurfaced and offered some strong opinions about fan service and its inclusion in franchise films. ‘Fan service’ these days means injecting a familiar element from the larger lore of a franchise into the film or episode in the […] The post Chris McQuarrie: “Fan Service Is Poison” appeared first on Dark Horizons.

May 21, 2025 - 19:00

Chris McQuarrie: “Fan Service Is Poison”

Currently out promoting “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” some old comments from filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie have resurfaced and offered some strong opinions about fan service and its inclusion in franchise films.

‘Fan service’ these days means injecting a familiar element from the larger lore of a franchise into the film or episode in the hopes of pleasing an audience who get the reference.

More critically though, to qualify as ‘fan service’ this element has to be non-essential to the story. This is most often seen with gratuitous and unnecessary cameos or callouts that don’t serve the story and can actually undermine it if used badly.

Speaking with The Filmmakers Podcast (via THR) back in 2023 while promoting the previous film “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning,” McQuarrie said fan service tends to hurt storytelling more than help:

“Fan service, and fandom, is poison. It’s deadly. It’s great when applied like a very, very strong spice, and judiciously. If you happen to have seen the other movies, great. I don’t count on it. Because what happens [when you add callbacks] – the danger of that – is I’m asking you to leave this narrative, and remember another narrative, and then come back.
Two things are certain to happen: One, if you know the [previous] movies, you’ve left the narrative and I have to spend precious energy bringing you back [while] I’m trying to immerse you in a story so that you’re not aware the story is happening. Or you haven’t seen that other movie and you’re suddenly aware that everybody around you [in the theater] knows something you don’t. In either case, you’ve disrupted the narrative and broken the chain.”

He cites his work on “Top Gun: Maverick” as an example of it done right as everything necessary to follow each moment in the film is there, being a fan or even familiar with the first film isn’t necessary:

“We don’t assume you’re a fan, Maverick was as successful as it was because the disruptions of that [narrative] chain are very, very minor and you’re almost instantly swept back into the narrative.”

The reason why these comments have come up again has been due to discussion over the reviews for ‘Final Reckoning’ which have been somewhat more mixed than McQuarrie’s previous ‘Mission’ entries with complaints indicating it’s overly plot-heavy, relies on too many callbacks to past entries, and boasts several moments which play like fan service – even as it spins plates in the air to justify their inclusion.

“Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning” opens in the U.S. this coming Thursday and is expected to have a major domestic opening weekend of around $80 million.

The post Chris McQuarrie: “Fan Service Is Poison” appeared first on Dark Horizons.