Maverick and Charlie's romance (and the chemistry that sizzled between Cruise and McGillis) was one of the backbones of the original “Top Gun,” but McGills wasn't asked to star in the sequel because her character was never even considered to return.
Why wasn t Meg Ryan or Kelly McGillis in Top Gun 2?
Meg Ryan Was Not Asked to Return
Top Gun: Maverick paid homage to its 1986 predecessor, but the film wasn't interested in bringing everything back from Maverick's past. Director Joseph Kosinski told Insider that the return of both Ryan and Kelly McGillis was never even considered during development.
While McGillis implied to Entertainment Tonight in 2019 (when production on Top Gun: Maverick was underway) that aging is why she wasn't asked back, director Joseph Kosinski told Insider that McGillis and Ryan aren't part of the sequel because of how their characters would impact the new stories.
Furthermore, much like how Rooster and Goose are related callsigns, Iceman and Hangman are as well, with both names referring to killers. Hangman works perfectly as Iceman's son regarding looks and attitude, but the connection also works beyond that.
Top Gun Star Kelly McGillis Breaks Silence on Not Returning for Sequel (Exclusive)
Who is Iceman's wife in Maverick?
In 2015, she released a five-song EP called Willing, and in 2017 she released an album titled "For My Folks", which features a collection of standards. Kelly appears as Sarah Kazansky - wife of Val Kilmer's character Tom "Iceman" Kazansky - in the 2022 action drama movie Top Gun: Maverick.
Jean Louisa Kelly plays a small but unforgettable role in Top Gun: Maverick as Sarah Kazansky, Iceman's wife. Kelly introduces Val Kilmer's cameo as an aging Iceman.
Kilmer's pay for Top Gun: Maverick is disputed, with reports ranging from $400,000 to $2 million, but his return as Iceman was a small cameo and a role he was eager to take on. Kilmer's net worth is estimated at $25 million, thanks to his successful filmography and other ventures like writing a bestselling memoir.
How much did Jennifer Connelly get paid for Top Gun 2?
After Tom Cruise, it is Miles Teller aka Rooster, who had the biggest salary for Top Gun Maverick, though it is much less than what Cruise made. The Spiderheard star reportedly took home $3.5 million. Jennifer Connelly is said to earn $3 million for her role as Penny Benjamin.
Tom Cruise Earned Approximately $100 Million For Top Gun: Maverick. Tom Cruise struck gold with the box office success of Top Gun: Maverick, which earned him over $100 million.
Cruise reportedly fought to have Kilmer back for the sequel, in which Kilmer chose to incorporate his real-life illness into the script. In his memoir, the Batman Forever star explained that he approached the producers himself to return as Iceman.
Not only that, but one canny viewer noted that the coffin is adorned with a winged metal pin, meaning its inhabitant was involved with the Naval School Topgun during their life. With so much evidence piling up, the odds of survival aren't looking good for Iceman.
Val Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in his 50s, but he was initially reluctant to seek medical attention. He eventually underwent multiple rounds of intense chemotherapy, radiation, and a tracheotomy. And though the treatment left his cancer in remission, it also took away his natural speaking voice.
Top Gun 3 is not confirmed, but the success of Top Gun: Maverick and the desire for more stories make it likely. The franchise is seen as a gold mine and there is potential for another successful installment.
Iceman Doesn't Speak Because Of Val Kilmer's Real Life Illness. Val Kilmer's own battle with throat cancer severely impacted his ability to speak. Kilmer now communicates through an artificial voice box, making his scene in the movie Top Gun: Maverick even more emotional with the actor being a real-life cancer survivor ...
Lately, my Twitter feed is full of praise for “Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to the 1986 hit. But little of the chatter has mentioned one of the film's most significant achievements: the inclusion of a fighter pilot nicknamed “Phoenix,” played by Monica Barbaro.
Looking at Top Gun through that lens, Tom "Iceman" Kazansky is clearly a better pilot than the hotshot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. Following Iceman's death in the sequel, if Top Gun 3 pushes through, someone else is bound to step up and challenge Maverick to be known as the best TOPGUN pilot.
Kilmer played Cruise's rival in the original TOP GUN, leading to fierce competition throughout the naval aviator training program. They reconcile towards the end of the movie when Cruise saves Kilmer's life, earning his respect. The two stars have remained friends since working on the original film in 1986.
Cruise, 59, has remained one of the world's last movie superstars, while the once famously mercurial leading man Kilmer, 62, battled throat cancer in the 2010s that required a tracheotomy which still greatly impacts his speaking voice.
However, a trial soon determined that Maverick was not to blame for the accident as he couldn't have possibly regained control of the jet. There's also the argument that Iceman was to blame because he knew Maverick was right behind him but refused to move and let him take the shot.
12 funeral, as the e-mail states, Navy SEALs took their trident pins and pounded them into the top of the casket. The trident pin is awarded to those who become SEALs and represents the areas in which SEALs are trained: air, sea and land.
With Val Kilmer on board, The sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, digs deeper into Maverick and Iceman's relationship. While Maverick has avoided promotion, happy to just continue flying but still stuck in the past, Iceman has moved up the Navy's ranks, becoming an admiral.
