Top Gun sequel director on the joy of bringing back Val Kilmer

Last Updated on March 29, 2022

After a lengthy delay, Top Gun: Maverick will finally be hitting theaters in two months. Not only has Tom Cruise returned to reprise his role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, but the Top Gun sequel will also feature Val Kilmer as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky as well.

Due to Val Kilmer’s health struggles, it was uncertain whether he’d be able to return for Top Gun: Maverick, but Tom Cruise didn’t want to make the film without him. While speaking with Total Film, Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski explained why Kilmer’s return was so special.

That was a huge, huge get – having Val come back to play Iceman. To get to work with an actor of that caliber, to see the chemistry, the camaraderie between him and Tom, and to have those two characters reunite in this film, was a really special moment, and one of my favorite parts of the film.

Last year, Top Gun producer Jerry Bruckheimer said that Tom Cruise was insistent that Val Kilmer should return. “He said, ‘We have to have Val, we have to have him back. We have to have him in the film,’” Bruckheimer said. “And he was the driving force. We all wanted him, but Tom was really adamant that if he’s going to make another Top Gun, Val had to be in it.” Bruckheimer added that the reunion between Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer was “very emotional” for all involved.

The official synopsis for Top Gun: Maverick:

After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster”, the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose”. Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.

Top Gun: Maverick will hit theaters on May 27, 2022 and is also set to screen at the Cannes Film Festival. Are you even more excited to see the Top Gun sequel knowing Val Kilmer is very much there?