You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But Top Gun: Maverick is going to ask an old dog to teach some new recruits. The latest trailer for a sequel more than 35 years in the making shows who brought Tom Cruise’s ace pilot back into the Top Gun program. He’s not the only person from Pete Mitchell’s past still having a major influence on his present, though. Goose’s son hasn’t forgiven Maverick for his father’s death. And with a dangerous battle on the horizon, their issues could get someone killed.
Now that is one fantastic trailer. And it all starts with a perfect and moving callback to Maverick’s old nemesis-turned-friend, Val Kilmer’s Iceman. He’s responsible for Maverick’s unlikely teaching assignment. The rest of the program’s leaders, including one played by Jon Hamm, aren’t so sure about this plan. Neither is Cruise’s Pete Mitchell. He’s not exactly the professorial type.
But he might be exactly what the new generation of fighter pilots needs. This trailer hints at a deadly combat mission unlike any they’ve encountered before. It’s a task not even Maverick has had to face. And he knows what that means. “Someone’s not coming back from this,” he says shortly before we see a military funeral.
This trailer doesn’t reveal the exact nature of the mission or the enemy. And the question of which student will die on Maverick’s watch remains to be seen. But the tension between him and Goose’s son Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, played by Miles Teller, won’t make this task easier for either of them. “My dad believed in you,” says Rooster. “I’m not gonna make the same mistake.”
Hey, Brad buddy, we’re still not over your dad’s death either. So please don’t make this any harder than it already is. We saw what happened. It wasn’t Maverick’s fault! IT WASN’T MAVERICK’S FAULT!
Like we said, we’re not over Goose’s death and never will be. Hopefully at least his son will survive his movie. And we’ll find out when the long-awaited Top Gun: Maverick flies into theaters May 27.
