Where Is Kelly McGillis In Top Gun 2? Why Charlie Doesn't Return
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Top Gun: Maverick.
Kelly McGillis doesn't reprise her role as Charlotte «Charlie» Blackwood in Top Gun: Maverick and there are a couple of interesting reasons why. In 1986, Tony Scott's original Top Gun was released, introducing Tom Cruise's Pete «Maverick» Mitchell and all the other characters at TOPGUN flight school where he and his RIO and in-flight partner, Nick «Goose» Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards) were sent to train. That included Charlie (Kelly McGillis) — an astrophysicist and a civilian instructor at the academy.
Charlie was hesitant to start a romance with Maverick considering that she was her student, but they eventually engaged in a relationship. The attraction between them was just too strong and Maverick was quite persistent in wooing her. Despite their mutual admiration, Goose's tragic death and Charlie's job caused their brief split but Top Gun's ending ultimately saw them getting back together, giving the impression that the couple was in for the long haul. So it was surprising to find out that in Top Gun: Maverick, Mitchell has a new love interest in Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly).
Related: Top Gun: Maverick's Iceman Scene Is A Beautiful Val Kilmer Tribute
Kosinski's Top Gun: Maverick isn't scared to lean on nostalgia with various callbacks to the 1986 film. That said, it doesn't bring back many of the characters from the original Top Gun and among the absent is Charlie. There are two reasons that explain why Charlie isn't in the sequel. According to director Joseph Kosinski, they wanted Top Gun: Maverick to look forward instead of backward, so they were meticulous in deciding which legacy characters would be back in the new blockbuster. Ultimately, instead of re-pairing
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