With his lone scene in Top Gun: Maverick, the late Val Kilmer stole the long-awaited sequel and justified the follow-up’s entire existence with one poignant exchange. By the time Top Gun: Maverick’s ending rolled around, it was clear that director Joseph Kosinski had achieved something that once seemed impossible. Not only had he made a worthy sequel to the original 1986 cult classic, but the director had managed to outdo Top Gun in every respect. By borrowing from original director Tony Scott’s playbook liberally, Kosinski gave viewers the perfect follow-up.
Since Tony Scott was Top Gun’s secret weapon, Kosinski’s sequel took a reverential approach to the original movie that paid off in spades. A throwaway line about Maverick sleeping with an Admiral’s daughter became his extended romantic subplot with Jennifer Connelly’s long-suffering Penny. The iconic opening credits were replicated verbatim, providing that Top Gun: Maverick’s Top Gun homages could extend past nostalgia and into straight-up revisiting many of the original movie’s best moments. More importantly, the return of Val Kilmer’s Iceman proved more moving than anything in the original movie.
Val Kilmer’s Iceman Is The Heart Of Top Gun: Maverick
Top Gun’s Sequel Always Needed Val Kilmer’s Character Return
By the time Top Gun: Maverick was released, the behind-the-scenes stories about Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer on the original movie’s set were the stuff of Hollywood legend. Both future superstars vying for screen time and attention, the co-stars allegedly got along terribly throughout the shoot. However, in the years since, the duo became famously close friends, eventually resulting in Cruise refusing any Top Gun sequel that didn’t bring back Kilmer. When a brush with throat cancer cost Kilmer his voice in 2015, it seemed as if this dream was outside the bounds of possibility.
Admittedly, the sequel’s flying scenes and stunts are incredible, but the late, great Kilmer is the emotional anchor of Top Gun: Maverick.
As such, it makes sense that Top Gun: Maverick’s Iceman and Maverick reunion outshines the rest of the movie. Iceman’s final line in Top Gun: Maverick indirectly summarizes not only his relationship with the H๏τ-tempered antihero, but also Maverick’s arc throughout both movies. Admittedly, the sequel’s flying scenes and stunts are incredible, but the late, great Kilmer is the emotional anchor of Top Gun: Maverick. Although he only appears onscreen for a few minutes, Kilmer’s role is the glue that holds the rest of the expensive blockbuster together in terms of story, character, and themes.
Top Gun: Maverick Was A Fitting Farewell To Iceman & Val Kilmer
Cruise and Kilmer’s Final Scene Together Is Incredibly Poignant
Kilmer’s role is the best part of the sequel and an incredible sendoff for a generational talent. Although the actor continued to work at a staggering rate considering the impact cancer had on his career, his output was unavoidably reshaped by the loss of his voice. As such, Top Gun: Maverick’s Iceman role being not only the actor’s final appearance, but also one of his most iconic roles, is incredibly fitting.
Without saying a word, Kilmer turns Iceman’s Top Gun: Maverick role into a pivotal, poignant, bittersweet moment that foreshadows his big send-off and sets up the finale of the blockbuster at the same time. It is a fitting capstone for an amazing career that cements just what an indelible on-screen legacy he leaves behind, which is why Val Kilmer’s scene deserves to be remembered as the highlight of Top Gun: Maverick’s already-impressive runtime.
