Jon Hamm Explains His Top Gun 2 Role As Maverick's New Boss

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Jon Hamm explains his Top Gun: Maverick role as the new boss of Tom Cruise's titular pilot. The new movie from director Joseph Kosinski is the long-awaited sequel to the 1986 hit Top Gun, and sees Cruise return to the role of Pete «Maverick» Mitchell for the first time in decades. After experiencing extensive pandemic-related delays, the Top Gun: Maverick release date is finally here, with the movie officially in theaters from today.

Cruise is not the only Top Gun cast member back for the sequel, as the movie also sees the return of Val Kilmer's Tom «Iceman» Kazansky, Maverick's former-rival-turned-close-friend. Several new characters have also joined the team, including a new crop of young aviators, most notably Miles Teller's Rooster, the son of Maverick's deceased wingman Goose. The man overseeing Cruise's new mission is Hamm's Vice Admiral Beau «Cyclone» Simpson, who commands the US Naval Air Forces.

Related: Top Gun: Maverick New Cast & Returning Character Guide

Now, Hamm speaks to THR about his Top Gun: Maverick character, who is a stickler for the rules but isn't bound to his movie archetype. When the interviewer claims that Cyclone stands out by actually being right to criticize Maverick as reckless, the actor says the Vice Admiral is really there to push the protagonist in ways that help him grow, rather than keep him penned in. Cyclone is the movie's voice of responsibility, Hamm says, and he's critical of Maverick because he comes from a place of mutual respect. Check out his full quote below:

That’s a great observation, and I think you’re correct. He’s the adult in the room. He’s not the petulant angry chief, and he’s not the cigar-chomping guy [James Tolkan’s Stinger] in [Top Gun], whose ego is writing