Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol picks up where the third installment, Mission: Impossible III, left off. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), the protagonist and leader of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), is still reeling from the events of the previous film. However, he's soon faced with a new challenge when the organization's existence is threatened by a rogue agent named Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), who has obtained a nuclear missile and plans to launch it at the Kremlin.