Kosinski says Top Gun: Maverick forces Tom Cruise to confront his past

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It's been nearly thirty-five years since the release of TOP GUN, but Tom Cruise will once again be stepping into the shoes of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell for TOP GUN: MAVERICK. The sequel, which has been helmed by Joseph Kosinski, finds Maverick still pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot who finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a special mission; among the recruits is Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick's late friend, Goose.

While speaking with Empire, Joseph Kosinski said that while Maverick may be the same guy we remember from all those years ago, his lack of growth has come with a personal cost.

In so many ways he’s still the guy that we remember from the first Top Gun. He keeps that old Ninja under a tarp in the hangar and still wears those Ray-Ban aviators. He’s the best at what he does, and he’s given his whole life to aviation. But that has come as a personal cost, and Maverick has to confront some things from his past and reconcile with them. It’s a rite-of-passage story, much like the first film was. But this is a man now at a different stage of life life.

In addition to Tom Cruise and Miles Teller, TOP GUN: MAVERICK also stars Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer, who will be reprising his role of Tom "Iceman" Kazansky. Toss in some action-packed flight sequences, which Kosinski said will offer an "authentic, visceral, intense experience," and we've got the makings of something special.

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 is set to hit theaters on December 23, 2020.