Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible 7 and 8 will eventually be shooting back to back, once the studios decide that it is safe to resume production. The decision isn’t just about making up lost time, but it is also because the films will be part of a larger story. A story in which Cruise and the rest of his Impossible Missions team was set to go up against Nicholas Hoult. Now, a new report has Hoult exiting the project and being replaced by Esai Morales.

Morales has been making an impact on TV and in the movies for years, start with NYPD all the way up to his recent roles as Deathstroke in Titans and his role on Netflix’s Ozark. The change is heavily due to the delays caused by COVID-19 production shutdowns. It turns out that the newly planned shooting schedule conflicts with another project that Hoult was already signed on to.

Morales will be joining a cast that already includes Cruise along with Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham, and Henry Czerny.

Don’t be surprised if this isn’t the only big movie role to change hands due to COVID-related scheduling issues.