Egos writing cheques that bodies cannot cash. Buzzing the tower. Volleyball on golden-hued days at the beach. If all of those things have you dreaming of F-14 planes and the crazy pilots who fly them, then we've got good news: the first trailer for high-flying sequel Top Gun Maverick has just screamed in, and it's in a reflective mood.
Kicking off with the iconic tolling of the bell from Harold Faltermeyer's original score, this is a trailer that sets its targeting systems firmly at nostalgia, with callbacks aplenty to the 1986 film and all the Thomas Cruise Mapother IV you can handle. Ed Harris' commander aside, there's nary a look at the rest of the cast beyond a couple of montages, but hey: if you have the Cruise-ster, the most recognisable part of Top Gun, you go with the Cruise-ster.
The theme is also one of time moving on, of pilots such as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell being passed their prime and a new wave of technological warfare in the air taking over. Mitchell himself also seems to be clinging to past glories, refusing promotions to stay flying and mentoring a new generation, even if many if them may end up in a drone control booth rather than up their on some mighty wings.
Joseph Kosinski directs here, working from a script that has seen work by Peter Craig, Justin Marks, Eric Warren Singer, and because it wouldn't be a Cruise movie without him, Christopher McQuarrie. TC himself surprised the audience at Comic-Con on Thursday, showing up after the Terminator: Dark Fate panel to introduce the trailer. “For 34 years, you guys have been very very patient with me," he said. "And I felt that it was my responsibility to finally really deliver for you.” And lest you think the new movie team went full CGI for the plane action... think again. "Everything you see in this film, obviously it’s for real," Cruise assured the crowd. "So the flying, working with the Navy, all the flying you’ll see in this picture, everything is real."
With Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell and a returning Val "Iceman" Kilmer among the cast, Top Gun Maverick will touch down in UK cinemas summer 2020.