If ever there was a competition to find the American answer to James Bond, then the Mission: Impossible series of films must surely be a strong contender.

So far it's had five incarnations since its beginning in 1996 — and sealed Tom Cruise's reputation as the ultimate action hero.

Its sixth outing will be a sequel to 2015's Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation, and will reunite the director and cast from that movie. It started filming in Paris in April, and latest set photos from New Zealand prove that Tom's character Ethan Hunt, like his British secret service counterpart, hasn't cut down on the globetrotting.

Tom shared a photo of the principal cast yesterday (July 9), showing him with Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Ving Rhames in front of a mountainous backdrop.

https://twitter.com/TomCruise/status/884129072598708224

Director Christopher McQuarrie then added: "Kia Ora, New Zealand. Thanks to everyone there who helped us achieve the Impossible. Leave a light on, London. We're coming home."

In fact Christopher has been doing a good job of documenting the new cast, with photos of Simon Pegg as technician Benji Dunn (who appears to have invented an intriguing new cocktail), Rebecca Ferguson reprising her role as undercover MI6 agent Ilsa Faust, and new cast member Angela Bassett in front of the Eiffel Tower.

And then there was this sneak preview of Superman's Henry Cavill:

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A post shared by Christopher McQuarrie (@christophermcquarrie) on Jun 9, 2017 at 12:47am PDT

Plot details are being kept under wraps, so we don't know exactly how Henry will fit into the film or what role he'll play. (Although, he has been posting some fairly cryptic videos to his own Instagram…)

Of course, we can always count on Graham Norton to get down to the nitty gritty, catching up with Tom as recent as this past June on The Graham Norton Show. Graham asks Tom if the film is "land-based, "air-based," "water-based," possibly even... "space-based"? What could it be?

Check out his answer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4YcBmNOsps

The sixth installment of Mission: Impossible still has yet to get a name, though we do at least know it'll open in theaters on July 27, 2018.

Do you think Ethan Hunt could rival James Bond?