Hayley Atwell joins Mission: Impossible 7

Hayley Atwell is joining Tom Cruise in the seventh instalment of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Director Christopher McQuarrie, who has been in charge of the franchise since 2015's Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, announced over the weekend that the actress had joined the cast on his Instagram page by sharing a black-and-white snap showing Atwell's headshot photograph resting on top of a folder for the Impossible Mission Force (IMF), the fictional agency in the series.

"@wellhayley Should you choose to accept..." he wrote in the caption, referencing the iconic line, "Your mission, should you choose to accept it."

In the comments, Cruise, who has played Ethan Hunt in the films since 1996, wrote, "Welcome to the team, @wellhayley."

The Captain America star shared the same photo on her Instagram page and hinted at her character's storyline in the caption, in which she wrote: "@christophermcquarrie Mission: Accepted. Though I'm not the sort to follow orders..."

It is not known what character the 37-year-old will be portraying, or if she will appear in both the seventh and eighth instalments, which are being filmed back-to-back.

According to IMDb, Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson is set to reprise her role of Ilsa Faust in the seventh movie. It is not yet known if other regulars, such as Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Alec Baldwin will return.

McQuarrie will direct both films from his own screenplays and will produce along Cruise and J. J. Abrams, among others. The first instalment is set for release in July 2021, while the follow-up will arrive in August 2022.

Atwell, who is perhaps most famous for playing Captain America's love interest Peggy Carter in the Marvel films, was recently seen in Avengers: Endgame and Blinded by the Light. She is currently filming TV show Criminal.