Is Ice Man Being Iced Out of ‘Top Gun 2’? Details on if Val Kilmer Will Star in the Sequel

Will Val Kilmer be in Top Gun 2? It took 33 years for a sequel to the iconic '80s jet-fighter pilot flick with the best soundtrack ever to grace the silver screens and here we are.

Comic Con fans were surprised with an exciting new trailer that looks absolutely stunning. While I love the first movie mostly for nostalgic purposes and the fact that I was obsessed with planes and Tom Cruise as a kid, this new movie has some truly breathtaking flight sequences.

We don't have much to go by from the trailer, but the two minutes of pieced-together footage gives us a little insight into the type of world Maverick's living in today. We learn that the famed jet fighter pilot (played by Tom Cruise) has elected to stay in the thick of flying and combat preparation. As his commanding officer, played by Ed Harris puts it, "You could've been a 2-star Admiral by now."

Maverick seems more concerned with pushing himself and his plane to the limits. Fans of the original film will be happy to know that there are tons of nods to the OG flick. Shirtless scenes of dudes engaging in some type of athletic activity on the beach? Yep. Tom Cruise wearing his fighter pilot leather jacket? Yep. Tom Cruise barreling down a runway on a motorcycle? Hell yes. 

Speaking of motorcycles, it looks like Maverick's got a new main squeeze riding with him on his bike. The movie also stars Jennifer Connelly (who's riding with Mav), Jon Hamm, and Miles Teller. If you check out the IMDB page of the film, you'll see that Miles' character's name in the flick is Bradley Bradshaw. Do me a favor and check out this picture of Tom on set with Miles right now.

Does Tom's co-star look familiar to you? Does he give off a certain, "Goose-ey" vibe? Well if he does then that makes a lot of sense because Goose's name is Nick Bradshaw. If you don't know who "Goose" is, then you haven't seen the original Top Gun. I'll spoil it for you: he's Maverick's partner who meets an unfortunate end. It looks like Mav is flying with Goose's son now and the two men share a meaningful bond.

After obsessing over the imagery in the trailer for a little bit, I noticed that there's a funeral scene and a close-up shot of a hand slamming a military medal/pendant into a casket. To me, this means one of two things. 

Either Bradley kicks the bucket on a mission and Maverick has to help bury another Bradshaw, or the roles are reversed and it's Maverick who sacrifices himself toward the end of the film and Goose Jr. has to be the one to put his father's best friend in a box.

Ice Man was one of the most memorable characters from the first flick. Not just because he's a beach volleyball phenom with a weird way of intimidating people, but because his rivalry with Maverick caused for a very uncomfortable, sometimes, sexually confusing narrative. Ultimately they join forces to complete an intense mission, putting aside their past differences and making it work.

The IMDB page for the flick lists Val in the movie, but not much is known about his involvement or what arc his character will take in the film. The actor confirmed that he will indeed be in Maverick, and spoke about the great time he had on set with co-star Tom Cruise with The Hollywood Reporter.

"It will be a great film, I promise," Val said. "This time around had me laughing with Tom like a high schooler. He’s so funny. I hope he’s saved the world enough to take a decade and re-establish himself as a great comedian as he has it in him."

So there you have it, we've got Maverick, a son of a Goose, Ice Man, motorcycles, jet planes, and beach sports. Looks like this movie's shaping up to an '80s-a-phile's dream come true.

Today, the latest Maverick trailer answered a lot of questions fans had from the first trailer and revealed some additional plot points.

First off: it's pretty much confirmed that Maverick isn't the one that gets buried in the military funeral service shown off in the trailers - he's the one saluting whoever's being buried. Does this mean that Goose's son also dies in the line of duty, just like his father?

We also learned that Tom Cruise is a Captain and has been tasked with leading the "Top Gun" program.

The trailer opens up with a narrator praising the "legendary" exploits of Maverick and how he is basically the best pilot that the program has ever produced. We then learn that Maverick has actually been asked back into the program, despite being surprised that he was. The trailer depicts Maverick showing the new recruits how to "dogfight", by wrecking them in a little one-on-two action.

The movie looks like a total homage to the classic '80s movie, instead of a beach volleyball scene there's a beach football one that features a bunch of ripped, tanned, shirtless peeps. We also see some drama unfolding amongst the recruits and what appears to be an ultimate battle over snow-capped mountains. Oh, and the movie appears to have a dope synth-soundtrack.

Top Gun: Maverick will drop on June 26th, 2020. Are you excited to see the new movie? Or do you think that '80s classics should just remain in the decade where they belong?