By James Barber
Today is a great day for the United States Navy and for the United States of America: The “Top Gun: Maverick” trailer premiered at Comic-Con in San Diego, and now we’re able to share it with you.
Tom Cruise returns as aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. It’s 33 years later, and Lt. Mitchell has only made captain even as he’s refused to retire from the Navy and, somehow, the brass hasn’t forced him out.
Let’s go to the trailer for the movie that Cruise called a “love letter to aviation” today.
Our first look at the movie focuses on Maverick as his commanding officer (Ed Harris) is detailing his failures (“You should be at least a two-star admiral by now”) and declaring that Maverick’s once radical ways are going the way of the dinosaur.
Maverick is having none of that. “Maybe so, sir. But not today.” Boom.
The original 1986 movie was one of the greatest recruiting tools in military history, and the Navy seems to have gone all-in on “Maverick” with support for filming its planes and onboard its ships. The stunts in this trailer far outstrip anything we saw in the original movie and feature many sensuous shots of the F/A-18 Super Hornet. We’ll have to find out next year if they’ve come up with a story to go with the action.
Cruise takes all of this very seriously. “Thirty-four years ago, I made a movie in San Diego and shot across the street [from Comic-Con] in a restaurant. … I was always asked, ‘When are you going to do another one?’ Well, you’ve been very patient with me. I felt like it was my responsibility to really deliver for you.”
Fortunately, “Top Gun: Maverick” is working from a screenplay co-written by current “MI” writer/director Christopher McQuarrie and is directed by “Oblivion” director Joseph Kosinski, who also helmed last year’s underrated firefighter movie “Only the Brave.” Cruise brought his A-team to “Maverick.”
The trailer features brief glimpses of co-stars Jon Hamm in uniform and Jennifer Connelly, but we don’t yet see the return of Iceman (Val Kilmer), Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman or any of the other young cast members.
We’ve got a long wait. “Top Gun: Maverick” opens in theaters June 26, 2020. Mark your calendars, and keep checking back for every scrap of “Maverick” news we can find.
