FilmMagic

After a rumor swirled online about Tom Cruise wanting Glen Powell to replace him in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, ESPN commentator Pat McAfee called up Powell himself to ask if it was true.

On his Nov. 12 broadcast of “The Pat McAfee Show,” the host FaceTimed Powell and read him the rumor, saying, “We just want to call and say congratulations, brother.”

Powell seemed to playfully deny the rumor, responding, “My mom would never let me do that.” Powell added that the stunt-filled “Mission: Impossible” franchise is the “worst gig in town, everybody knows that.”

“That’s a death trap,” Powell added, of course nodding to the fact that Cruise performs his own stunts for the action series, including hanging off the side of a moving airplane, scaling the tallest building in the world and driving a motorcycle off of a cliff before parachuting down.

Powell burst into laughter, prompting McAfee to exclaim, “He’s lying!” The two then started talking about college football.

Before hanging up, Powell told McAfee he was currently on set of Edgar Wright’s “The Running Man,” adding, “It’s gonna be sick!”

The eighth “Mission: Impossible” movie, titled “The Final Reckoning,” is slated for May 23, 2025. Despite the title, it has not yet been confirmed whether it will be the last time Cruise suits up as agent Ethan Hunt.

Cruise starred alongside Powell in 2022’s high-flying blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick,” for which both actors performed many of their own stunts. Powell also took on a lead action role in this year’s tornado pic “Twisters,” in which he starred opposite Daisy Edgar Jones. Cruise showed up to the premiere of that film, posting an Instagram photo of him and Powell with the caption, “Fun night with friends, watching a movie!”