Top Gun: Maverick had a chance to kill off Tom Cruise’s Top Gun hero, but Top Gun 3 won’t be able to pull off this twist due to the sequel’s ending.
While Top Gun 3 killing off Tom Cruise’s Maverick might seem like the inevitable next step after Top Gun: Maverick’s ending, this would be a bad idea for the Top Gun franchise. While many viewers guessed that Iceman would die in Top Gun: Maverick, a lot of fans of the franchise also assumed that Top Gun’s original hero Maverick would also not survive his mission. After all, it had been over three decades since Tom Cruise first played the part of Maverick and, between the two movies, the character had grown from a reckless young renegade to an embattled, weary veteran.
When Maverick did survive and Top Gun: Maverick’s love story gave him a far stronger ending than the original movie, it was hard not to celebrate the sequel’s triumphant twist. Maverick’s unlikely survival was both a surprise and an inevitability, with the character’s happy ending fitting the escapist tone of the Top Gun franchise. However, Top Gun 3 could undo all of this hard work by killing off Maverick after all. It’s an obvious and tempting twist, but it’s also not the right fit for the character and Maverick’s Top Gun 3 death would inevitably create an unflattering contrast with Iceman’s perfectly fitting exit.
Top Gun 2 Proved Maverick Learned His Lesson
At the end of Top Gun: Maverick, Maverick settles down and becomes a responsible family man, something that (judging by his cameo) Iceman did years earlier. Top Gun: Maverick learned from the original movie’s mistakes by giving Maverick’s romance with Penny tangible stakes. Until he risks his hide to save Rooster in the finale, Maverick isn’t someone who can put anyone else ahead of himself. When he learns to do this in Top Gun: Maverick’s finale, he earns a chance to enjoy his new outlook on life in the process.
Maverick’s ending fits his persona, as the character earned his happiness and peace with Penny by learning to put others ahead of himself. If Top Gun 3 were to kill him off in action, the sequel would only undo this lesson and rob Maverick of a well-earned retirement and a shot at a normal life. If Maverick was going to die, it would have needed to happen when he decided he was willing to risk his life to save Goose’s son. Hangman’s triumphant Top Gun: Maverick rescue could have been replaced with Maverick sacrificing himself to save Rooster, but the franchise can’t – or at least shouldn’t – stage this scene now.
Why Top Gun 3 Killing Off Tom Cruise’s Maverick Wouldn’t Work
Top Gun 3 can’t create a more fitting end for the character now that he has learned how to be a little more selfless. Repeating Maverick’s Rooster rescue in Top Gun 3 would smack of desperation and unoriginality, and would feel contrived to boot. As such, Top Gun 3 will struggle to find a fitting end for the character, and will never be able to match Top Gun: Maverick’s ideal sacrifice. Thus, Top Gun 3 can’t kill off the Top Gun franchise hero, despite (or, more specifically, because of) how close Top Gun: Maverick came to pulling off this feat.
