Character
Luther Stickell is a fictional character in the Mission: Impossible film series who first appeared in the 1996 film Mission: Impossible and is the only character besides Ethan Hun…
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Investigate this subjectLuther Stickell is a fictional character in the Mission: Impossible film series who first appeared in the 1996 film Mission: Impossible and is the only character besides Ethan Hunt to appear in all eight films. In the films, Luther is an expert computer hacker who works for the IMF (Impossible Missions Force) division of the CIA alongside Ethan Hunt.
Luther Stickell is a fictional character in the Mission: Impossible film series who first appeared in the 1996 film Mission: Impossible and is the only character besides Ethan Hunt to appear in all eight films.
In the films, Luther is an expert computer hacker who works for the IMF (Impossible Missions Force) division of the CIA alongside Ethan Hunt. He is portrayed by Ving Rhames.
Over the course of the series, Luther's character goes from being a soft-spoken, down-to-business and reliable team member to being Ethan's most trusted friend and confidant.
IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (portrayed by Tom Cruise) is "disavowed" by the IMF following a botched mission in Prague, a "mole hunt" for an agent who plans to steal the CIA's non-official cover (NOC) list, a detailed file of all the IMF agents situated in Eastern Europe. Framed as the mole, with only his teammate Claire Phelps alive, Ethan plots to steal a copy of the list to lure the real traitor out of hiding. Ethan enlists the help of two other "disavowed" IMF agents: Luther Stickell and Franz Krieger (portrayed by Jean Reno). Stickell is told he has been chosen as "Cyber-Ops". Reluctant at first, Luther is baited into the hack when Ethan plays to Stickell's ego, reminding Luther of his reputation in the hacking/phreaking community (he was nicknamed "The Net Ranger" and "Phineas Phreak" due to his skills), bringing up his greatest achievement (being "the only man alive who hacked NATO Ghost Com") and selling the upcoming job proposal as "the Mount Everest of hacks". Posing as a team of firefighters, the rogue IMF group breaches the CIA and infiltrates the main computer mainframe via a remote terminal in Langley, Virginia. In order to gain access to the floor with the NOC list, Luther hacks into the building's computer-controlled electrical system, triggering the fire alarm on that floor. Because of his agility, Ethan performs the physical act of obtaining the information himself but has Luther, in his ear via headset, instructing him on performing the hack. Luther provides the password needed to log in at the terminal, having seen it being entered via a camera built into Ethan's eyeglasses. After obtaining the list, Ethan discovers that his team leader Jim Phelps not only survived the initial mission in Prague, but also is the real mole. He is the man responsible for framing Ethan, despite Jim's insistence that CIA Director Kittridge is the mole. After learning this from Ethan, Luther helps him double-cross Claire and Jim together. Aboard a train headed for Paris, the arms dealer called Max (Ethan's buyer of the NOC list) and her bodyguard are caught with the stolen data, the CIA drops their case against Ethan and reinstates him, along with Luther. While celebrating with Ethan at a British pub, Luther proclaims he is "the flavor of the month", indicating that the CIA is now treating him like royalty thanks to his help. At the same time, he muses that he is "gonna miss being disreputable" as he is no longer in hiding and incapable of the illegal computer activities he was privy to performing before being reinstated. Before going their separate ways, Ethan smiles and tells Luther that, if it makes him feel any better, he will always see Luther in that light.
In Mission: Impossible 2, Hunt eagerly recruits Luther (along with IMF Agent Billy Baird) to help stop Sean Ambrose, a former IMF agent, from unleashing a deadly virus (code-named, "Chimera" after the mythological beast) upon Sydney, Australia. This time around, Luther utilizes GPS tracking satellites to keep tabs on Nyah Nordoff-Hall, a GPS-bugged mole they have planted inside of Ambrose's complex. As the mission progresses, Ethan enlists Nyah to lift a memory card containing information on the virus from Ambrose's jacket so that Luther can analyze the virus and its capabilities. Luther also provides Ethan with an entrance to a biological lab in the city of Sydney through a jammed-open vent on the roof by hacking into the building's computer-controlled electronics system. During the infiltration of the building, however, Luther is nearly killed when one of Ambrose's men plants a bomb on the underside of the van Luther is using as an observation station in an attempt to trap Ethan in the building without a second pair of eyes to get him out. Luther manages to escape just in time with only some cuts and bruises but finds that his main laptop is damaged in the bombing and that the rest of his computer equipment has been destroyed. After repairing it, he eventually assists Ethan in infiltrating an island complex where Nyah has been tracked and Ambrose is selling the virus. Luther helps Ethan find his way around once the fight moves above ground but backs off when the helicopter he is in comes under fire by Ambrose's troops. He eventually injects Nyah with the cure to the virus (symbolically named, "Bellerophon" after the Greek hero who managed to slay the Chimera according to myth) and helps Ethan escort her safely away from Ambrose.
In Mission: Impossible III, Luther reunites with a semi-retired and engaged Ethan Hunt to help rescue Ethan's kidnapped protégé, Lindsay Farris. Along with being Ethan's usual "second set of eyes" and manning his routes through the building from a van, Luther also activates and utilizes remote-controlled sentry machine guns in order to cause chaos and confusion so that Ethan does not have to bother taking out several armed and alert men under pressure. He asks Ethan about Julia during the operation, to which Ethan jokingly declines answering. Despite the team's effort, Farris dies from a small explosive device that was implanted in her head. Afterwards, Ethan comes across a microdot that was sent to him by Farris before her death. He immediately consults Luther about it but Luther finds that the microdot contains nothing, much to Ethan's dismay. Luther gently prods Ethan for reasons why Farris would send Ethan a blank microdot, let alone anything at all, eventually im
Source: Luther Stickell (CC BY-SA)
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