Top Gun Maverick: Tom Cruise Wasn't Going to Make the Sequel Unless Val Kilmer Was in It
Top Gun: Maverick producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, has revealed that Tom Cruise insisted Val Kilmer return as Iceman for the sequel.
This news comes by way of People, which reports that Bruckheimer said Cruise was the driving force behind getting Kilmer back as Iceman in the Top Gun sequel.
Now, more than 35 years later, Top Gun fans will see Cruise’s Maverick and Kilmer’s Iceman reunite on the screen when Top Gun: Maverick debuts in theaters on November 19.
“He said, ‘We have to have Val, we have to have him back. We have to have him in the film,'” Bruckheimer told People. “And he was the driving force. We all wanted him, but Tom was really adamant that if he’s going to make another Top Gun, Val had to be in it.”
Bruckheimer said Kilmer is a “fine actor [and] such a good individual,” revealing that watching him and Cruise reunite on set was “very emotional.” The producer continued and explained that bringing back some of the Top Gun gang was something the Maverick team wanted to do.
