‘Top Gun 2’: The Release Date & All The Latest Updates About The Sequel

The need for speed is still alive and kicking! ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ will finally be flying into theaters on May 27. Here are all the latest updates on the release date, cast, and more.

Top Gun 2, formally known as Top Gun: Maverick, is one of the most highly-anticipated movies ever. The sequel comes 35 years after the release of the first film, and Tom Cruise is back in the cockpit. Top Gun was a box office blockbuster when it was released in 1986, making over $350 million, and expectations are very high for the sequel.

Fans have been anxiously awaiting Top Gun: Maverick. From the trailers to the interviews, this movie is not going to disappoint. HollywoodLife has rounded up all the key news you need to know about Top Gun 2, including the latest release date, the star-studded cast, and more.

Release Date & Where To Watch

Top Gun 2 has had multiple release dates. The release date for Top Gun: Maverick has changed several times over the course of the last 3 years. The movie was originally scheduled to be released on July 12, 2019. In 2018, Top Gun 2 was delayed until June 26, 2020. The release date was moved up two days to June 24 a month before Top Gun: Maverick was delayed to December 23, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A few months later in July 2020, the film was once again delayed to July 2, 2021. That release date stuck until April 2021 when Top Gun: Maverick was delayed again to November 19, 2021. Then in September 2021, Paramount Pictures delayed the film’s release for hopefully the final time, to May 27, 2022. Top Gun: Maverick will be released theatrically on May 27 and will be available to stream on Paramount+ 45 days later. Netflix and Apple TV+ reportedly attempted to purchase distribution rights to the sequel, but Paramount refused.

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Cast & Crew

Tom Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell

The cast of Top Gun: Maverick is absolutely stacked. Tom Cruise is back as the one and only Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, reprising the role he made famous over 30 years later.

Val Kilmer as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky

Val Kilmer will also be returning to the role of Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, who was Maverick’s main rival in the first film. Val was confirmed to reprise the role of Iceman by The Wrap in 2018 after previously teasing his return on his Facebook page.

Miles Teller as Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw

Miles Teller was cast as Goose’s son, Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, in 2018. Rooster is a pilot trainee following in his late father’s footsteps. Rooster’s father, the beloved “Goose” (Anthony Edwards), died in the original Top Gun. “Playing Goose’s kid and getting to continue that storyline that was established in such a powerful way all those years ago, there is a lot of history there. I think when [the] audience realizes the character I play is that tiny kid they saw in the original, it is going to hit,” Miles told Men’s Journal.

Glen Powell as Lieutenant “Hangman” Seresin

Glen Powell went out for the role of Rooster, but Miles was ultimately cast as Goose’s son. However, Glen impressed Tom, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and execs at Paramount and Skydance so much they set out to find another role for him in the sequel, THR reported. The Top Gun 2 team was “so intent on having Powell that they are beefing up the role for him.” Glen was ultimately cast as Lieutenant “Hangman” Seresin, a pilot trainee.

Jennifer Connelly as Penny Benjamin

Top Gun: Maverick will also star Jennifer Connelly, who plays Penny Benjamin. Penny is a single mom who runs a bar near the Navy base. She is Maverick’s love interest in the film.

Jon Hamm as Vice Admiral Cyclone

Mad Men alum Jon Hamm plays Vice Admiral Cyclone. Jon raved to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY in 2020 that it was “a phenomenal experience working with Tom. [I] really, really enjoyed it. He’s such a great guy and he’s such a wonderful actor. And it has to be very strange to revisit a role after 30 years that kind of defined your career.”

Jean Louisa Kelly as Carole Bradshaw

Last but not least, Jean Louisa Kelly has been cast as Carole Bradshaw, Goose’s widow and Rooster’s mother. The role was previously portrayed by Meg Ryan, who is not returning to the role in the sequel. Meg hasn’t appeared in a feature film since 2015’s Ithaca, which she also directed and produced.

Other cast members include Westworld star Ed Harris as Maverick’s superior Rear Admiral, Lewis Pullman as pilot trainee Lieutenant Bob Floyd, Monica Barbaro as Lieutenant Natasha “Phoenix” Trace, Danny Ramirez as Lieutenant “Fanboy,” Manny Jacinto as “Fritz,” Jay Ellis as Lieutenant “Payback,” Bashir Salahuddin as “Coleman,” Chelsea Harris as Flag Aide Angela Burke, Greg Tarzan Davis as Lieutenant “Coyote”, Charles Parnell as Rear Admiral Warlock, and Lyliana Wray as Amelia Benjamin. Jake Picking, Raymond Lee, Kara Wang, and Jack Schumacher are also starring in undisclosed roles.

Kelly McGillis, who played Charlie, Maverick’s love interest in the first movie, also will not be returning. She revealed she wasn’t asked to be a part of the sequel in a 2019 interview. “You know what, I don’t know how to answer that because one, it hasn’t happened,” Kelly told ET when she was asked if should attend any of Top Gun 2’s promotional events. “Two, if and when it did happen, I would have to assess where I am, what I’m doing, what’s going on … I can’t project what I would or wouldn’t do in the future. I have no idea because I don’t know where I’ll be.” Kelly currently lives in North Carolina.

Crew

While the first Top Gun was directed by Tony Scott, the sequel will be directed by Joseph Kosinski. The sequel’s screenplay is by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie. Tom is producing alongside Christopher, Jerry Bruckheimer, and David Ellison. Lady Gaga wrote and recorded the theme song, “Hold My Hand.” She also composed the score alongside Hans Zimmer and Harold Faltermeyer. Gaga released “Hold My Hand” and its cover art on May 3 and shared a sweet message via Instagram about working on the film.

“When I wrote this song for Top Gun: Maverick, I didn’t even realize the multiple layers it spanned across the film’s heart, my own psyche, and the nature of the world we’ve been living in,” the “Born This Way” singer said. “I’ve been working on it for years, perfecting it, trying to make it ours. I wanted to make music into a song where we share our deep need to both be understood and try to understand each other—a longing to be close when we feel so far away and an ability to celebrate life’s heroes. I’m so grateful to Tom and Hans and Joe for this opportunity—and it’s been a beautiful experience working with them.” She also credited her longtime collaborator BloodPop, Ben Rice, and “everyone else who worked on it” for helping to make the song come true. “This song is a love letter to the world during and after a very hard time. I’ve wanted you to hear it for so long.”

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Storyline

The official synopsis for Top Gun: Maverick is:

“After more than 30 years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw, call sign “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, a.k.a. “Goose.” Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.”

There have been multiple trailers for Top Gun 2 that have come out since 2019. The final trailer dropped in March 2022 and shows Maverick crossing paths with Goose’s son, Rooster. “My dad believed in you. I’m not going to make the same mistake,” Rooster says to Maverick’s face in the trailer.

Ahead of the film’s theatrical release on May 27, Top Gun: Maverick premiered at CinemaCon on April 28. It will also be screened at the Cannes FIlm Festival on May 18, during which there will be a tribute to Tom Cruise and his career.