Hollywood, the land of sequels, reboots, and reimaginings, has picked yet another name out of the hat to give a second lease on life. On no shortlist would anyone ever jot down Top Gun as in dire need of a sequel and yet, almost 30 years later, here we are, looking at an older but no less enthusiastic Tom Cruise return to play LT Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.
Regardless of how critics receive this year’s follow-up, Tom Cruise and shameless pandering to nostalgia are both massive box office draws, so Top Gun: Maverick already has two of the best ingredients required to cook up a smash hit.
Clearly aware of the praise heaped on the original for its stuntwork, Maverick director Joseph Kosinki is making sure to stuff his latest piece with more dizzying depictions of aerial wizardry than you can shake a glow stick at. Check out the trailer above.
Unsurprisingly, Cruise looks right at home, sporting a knowing grin, no doubt shaped permanently as a result of being able to spend a solid portion of the film’s runtime either in a cockpit or riding a motorcycle. Whether any of the spectacle-laden sequences can top Tony Scott’s original, however, is something we’ll just have to find out when spring gives way to summer.
Following complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, Top Gun: Maverick finally swoops into theaters on May 27. Expect to see riots in the streets if Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” doesn’t at least make a brief appearance somewhere in the movie.