With his and Tom Cruise’s next collaboration on the horizon, one star is weighing in on the Top Gun 3 reports. Development on a third installment in Cruise’s naval aviator action franchise was confirmed to be underway as of February 2024, with Cruise, Glen Powell and Miles Teller all expected to return, while the rest of Maverick‘s cast have shared their hopes to reprise their roles. Progress has been slow going in the time since, particularly as Cruise has been busy with the upcoming Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, his mystery movie with Alejandro G. Iñárritu and the recently reported Days of Thunder 2.
During a recent interview with Brandon Davis at the Gladiator II red carpet premiere, Greg Tarzan Davis was asked for an update on Top Gun 3. The Maverick star began by acknowledging that the creative team are “waiting to get it to a right place“, before going on to recall how he and many of his co-stars were surprised by the announcement, leading him to turn to Cruise while working with him on the next Mission: Impossible movie to get some insight. See what David said in the quote and video below:
We’re waiting to get it to a right place. When the news came out that there was going to be a Top [Gun] 3, honestly, it was a shock to all of us. And we’re all in a group message. Like “Did you – What’s going on? Is this real?” And then, once it happened, I was on set with Tom, and I just talked to him about it. And he really just wants the story to be right. We don’t want to just see it because the last one made a lot of money. The same thing with [producer] Jerry [Bruckheimer]. They love to tell stories, they love to entertain an audience. And, if we can’t do that, I don’t know if there’ll be a three, but I know that we’re working hard to get it there.
What This Means For Top Gun 3
Davis Seems To Be Set To Come Back
While nothing is outright confirmed until Paramount Pictures says so, Davis’ comments could point to him being in mind for Cruise and his creative team in Top Gun 3‘s development. Powell has frequently indicated that he is confirmed to be back for the threequel, while his Maverick co-stars Jay Ellis, Jon Hamm and Danny Ramirez have all been more cautious in addressing their potential returns, indicating they’ve been left in the dark on whether they’ll be back as the young new pilots.
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One thing that could give Davis an inside track on potentially coming back for Top Gun 3 is his ongoing working relationship with Cruise. In the wake of the legacy sequel’s production, the on-the-rise actor has starred in both Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning‘s cast as Degas, a US Intelligence agent partnered with Shea Whigham’s Jasper Briggs to track Cruise’s Ethan Hunt down. Considering Davis is only one of two Top Gun: Maverick actors to cross over with the most recent Mission: Impossible movies, alongside Charles Parnell, it seems like the producer/star of both franchises really enjoys working with the young actor.
Our Take On Davis’ Potential Top Gun 3 Return
He Should Be Joined By The Rest Of The New Pilots
As much as Davis’ comments give me hope that he’ll be back for it, I hope he’s not the only Maverick cast member to return for Top Gun 3, but is instead joined by the rest of the young pilots. Monica Barbaro’s Phoenix was an excellent foil to the testosterone-fueled male cast, while Manny Jacinto’s Fritz and Raymond Lee’s Yale essentially had their roles minimized to background characters, and deserve another chance to shine.
Source: Brandon Davis