Since the unexpected $1.4 billion box office success ofTop Gun: Maverick, there has naturally been a lot of discussion of a third movie. Paramount probably won’t wait another 36 years to make it happen. As soon as Tom Cruise is done with the two-part finale of theMission: Impossibleseries, the studio will likely pressure him to return to his other action-packed franchise. If Cruise is willing to get back in the cockpit for a third high-flying, high-octaneTop Gunmovie, then there’s one key legacy character from the original film that needs to make an on-screen return. WhenTop Gun 3inevitably gets made, Cruise isn’t the only cast member who should come back.
Top Gun: Maverickbrought back Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, now a captain, as the lead character, and featured a poignant cameo appearance by Val Kilmer as his rival-turned-wingman Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. Other thanMaverick’s new love interest Penny Benjamin, who was mentioned in an off-hand remark in the first movie as “the admiral’s daughter,” everyone else in theTop Gunsequel is an original creation. It would be great to see a lot of these new characters return in a potentialTop Gun 3if there’s room for them in the story – Glen Powell as Hangman, Monica Barbaro as Phoenix, Lewis Pullman as Bob – but the one character the threequel needs to succeed is a deep cut from the Tony Scott original.
RELATED:Top Gun: Maverick Review
The plot ofTop Gun: Maverickrevolves around the titular renegade fighter pilot becoming a reluctant father figure tohis late best friend Goose’s son, Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, played by Miles Teller. Rooster’s mother Carole Bradshaw, played by Meg Ryan in the original 1986 movie, is a significant presence inTop Gun: Maverick. Maverick promised her he’d keep Rooster out of the Navy and ended up reluctantly breaking that promise, but Carole herself never appeared on-screen. ForTop Gun 3to have the same emotional impact asTop Gun 2, it needs to bring back Ryan for a powerhouse performance as a widow trying to save her son from the same fate her husband met.
In an interview withScreen Rant, Teller pitched a thirdTop Gunmovie that would revolve around his character: “I’m trying to get aTop Gun: Rooster. I’ve been pitching it. We’ll see what happens.” Rooster could take the torch from Maverick and become the new lead of the franchise as Maverick retires toa Ben Kenobi-style mentor role. If Rooster takes center stage inTop Gun 3, then there’s no excuse to not feature his mother in the main cast – or, at the very least, in a brief but powerful Iceman-style cameo appearance. It didn’t make sense to not include Carole inTop Gun: Maverick. She looms large over the sequel’s story as the reason Rooster’s military career is being held back, but she doesn’t appear in a single scene (except for archival footage from the original movie). The threequel can make up for Carole’s absence from the first sequel with a big role in the second one.
The character of Carole inTop Gunwas one of the early supporting roles in Ryan’s transition from a soap opera actor onAs the World Turnsinto a bona fide movie star. Her real breakthrough came three years later with her iconic turn asthe title character inWhen Harry Met Sally. Ryan later became a staple of the romantic comedy genre and teamed up with Nora Ephron and Tom Hanks forSleepless in SeattleandYou’ve Got Mail. She has also appeared in such films asThe Doors,Kate & Leopold, andCourage Under Fire. Often praised as one ofthe best actors to never receive an Academy Award nomination, Ryan is long overdue for a career comeback. The last time she starred in a big movie was way back in 2008 when she co-starred with Annette Bening and Eva Mendes inThe Women. A major role inTop Gun 3can give Ryan the renaissance she deserves.
The aerial action inTop Gun: Maverickwas truly thrilling, with breathtaking practical stunts and immersive cinematography. The roar of the jet engines is a big part of what made theTop Gunsequel a quintessential big-screen experience – and, ultimately, a Best Picture nominee. But it wasn’t the action alone thatmadeTop Gun: Mavericka great movie. The true appeal ofTop Gun: Maverickwas its emotional resonance. Audiences came for the spectacle of airborne warfare, but they stayed for the moving father-son story between Maverick and Rooster. The threequel needs to find a way to repeat that, and bringing in Rooster’s widowed mother as an obstacle to his naval service and an antagonist to Maverick could be the best way to go about it.
