Maverick and Iceman will reunite in the new ‘Top Gun’ sequel, and the director has revealed that Tom Cruise was instrumental in bringing his co-star back.

Tom Cruise could be my wingman at any time! Top Gun: Maverick director Jerry Bruckheimer has revealed what important role the 59-year-old actor played in ensuring Val Kilmer, 61, returned for the sequel to their 1986 hit film in a new interview with People. A Top Gun sequel without Tom “Iceman” Kazansky would not feel right, and the director said Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom’s character) himself was looking to bring the actor back.

In the original film, Val’s Iceman and Tom’s Maverick were rivals who learned to respect each other by the end of the film. Despite the character’s tumultuous relationship, Tom seemed to enjoy working with Val and knew he was an essential part of the first film. “He said, ‘We have to have Val, we have to have him back. We have to have him in the film,” said Jerry Personnes. “He was the driving force. We all wanted him, but Tom was adamant that if he was going to make another Top Gun, Val had to be in it.”

Jerry also said that working together again was “very emotional” and complimented Val’s performance. “He’s such a good actor, and he’s such a good individual. We had such a great time on the first one, and we wanted to get some of the gang back together again,” he said.

Ahead of the film’s release, Val also explained how incredible it was to get to work on the sequel. He said it was “absolutely moving” to work with Tom again in an April 2020 interview with Hello America. “I was amazed. And Tom was wearing his jacket, his original jacket from the first film. It was just very moving,” he said at the time.

Top Gun: Maverick is due to hit cinemas on 19 November, after the film was delayed several times due to the coronavirus pandemic. Val and Tom are among the stars of the original return.

Source: People