As secret agent Ethan Hunt, he spent the first Mission: Impossible movie trying to clear his name after he was framed for the deaths of members of his team. A few years later, we saw him in Minority Report as "Precrime" officer John Anderton trying to clear his name for a murder he didn't commit. In other words, he's not unfamiliar with portraying a man in a position of power who is brought down by a larger, malevolent organization, against which he has to fight to regain his good name. One wonders if he's thinking about the paparazzi during any of his fight scenes.

He'll also be playing another secret operative of sorts in next year's Valkyrie. As Hitler's would-be assassin, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, he'll be fighting for Germany's good name rather than his own. But it's close enough to Cruise's comfort zone -- "one man fighting the larger evil" -- to be familiar territory. You might not recognize the accent, but you'll know the landmarks when you see them.