Top Gun 2: How Maverick & Iceman's Friendship Has Evolved
Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski explains how Maverick and Iceman's friendship has evolved since the original film. Tom Cruise starred as Maverick in the first Top Gun, released in 1986. His character attended the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (aka TOPGUN) where he flew with the best pilots in the Navy. This included Iceman, as played by Val Kilmer, who was characterized as the best of the best. While Maverick proved to be the most formidable in combat, Iceman's reputation and expertise led to his winning of the top spot for their class in the film.
Now Top Gun: Maverick will see the two reunite onscreen. The long-awaited sequel picks up with Cruise's Maverick years after the first movie; he remains an instructor at the TOPGUN school, even despite his many opportunities to ascend the ranks. While much of Top Gun: Maverick involves a cast of newcomers, the movie does feature the highly anticipated return of Kilmer's Iceman. Much has been said about Cruise and Kilmer's big moment in the film, and now Kosinski hypes it up even more.
Related: What Happened To Iceman Between Top Gun & Top Gun 2
Speaking exclusively with Screen Rant, Kosinski discusses Kilmer's role in Top Gun 2, as well as how both Maverick and Iceman's friendship has evolved since the original film. Kosinski says that Iceman's journey was very different than Maverick's, as he climbed the ranks while Maverick stalled out. Nevertheless, that has allowed for a more unique bond between the two. Kosinski says:
We like the idea that Iceman, as you remember, won the Top Gun trophy in 1986. In fact, you see it on the wall in that scene. And he stayed in the Navy and continued his way up the ranks. Now, he's basically as high as you can go,
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