An early look at Top Gun: Maverick hints that Maverick is burdened with a potentially fatal obsession of speed, with the pilot attempting to go beyond Mach 10 in a test flight. Paramount Pictures screened Top Gun: Maverick‘s opening scene at CinemaCon 2021, and it seems to indicate that Maverick is by no means ready to slow down. In the sequence, Maverick is tasked with piloting an experimental aircraft with the intention of achieving Mach 10. But once he reaches his goal, he can’t help but attempt to push past it, which makes Maverick same reckless thrill-seeker he was in Top Gun, indicating that an added 35 years of experience has done nothing to dampen his infamous need for speed.
What’s known of the film so far is that Maverick will act as an instructor for new recruits in the Navy’s “Top Gun” program, at the behest of Val Kilmer’s Iceman, echoing the plot of the original. Other than this parallel, the sequel will undoubtedly distance itself somewhat from the original film, though, with only Tom Cruise and Kilmer reprising their roles. Maverick‘s trailers indicate that the pilot is still every bit the hot-headed fly-boy he was in Top Gun, and Iceman has been promoted to a four-star Admiral, meaning that Maverick’s one-time rival will likely act as his superior in some capacity.
Despite Iceman, a vocal detractor of Maverick’s recklessness, now in a position to actually ground the test pilot for his dangerous stunts, Maverick’s blatant flirting with death in the Mach 10 scene is most certainly an indication that his obsession with risking his life in the air might result in his death. After all, Top Gun‘s narrative focus was Maverick learning to follow orders and to work as part of a team to keep those around him safe, and this footage from Maverick proves that he’s forgotten that lesson. Iceman’s promotion lends further credence to this theory – while Maverick’s former rival couldn’t ever match his talent for flying, his ability to make rational decisions and follow orders has seen him progress through the ranks. Maverick, however, hasn’t progressed to anywhere near the same level, indicating that the powers that be know that Maverick is a liability.
There’s speculation that Maverick will retire in Top Gun 2, but given that even achieving Mach 10 wasn’t enough for him, it seems more likely that his career will end far less peacefully. The Mach 10 scene proves that he’s incapable of ever really satisfying his need for speed, and an arc in which this proves to be his undoing would certainly make the most sense. This could be tied back to guilt stemming from the events of Top Gun, in which his actions indirectly cause the death of his best friend, and his need for atonement could bring that story full circle.
Of course, while Maverick’s death would make sense, there is hope for the thrill-seeking pilot yet, and Top Gun 2‘s new love interest may well encourage him to finally slow down. Whether or not Maverick will survive the sequel remains to be seen, but given that Top Gun: Maverickopens with him narrowly escaping death, it’s quite possible that if he doesn’t learn to let go of his fatal obsession, he likely won’t live to see out a trilogy.
- Top Gun: Maverick/Top Gun 2 (2022)Release date: May 27, 2022
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