While 2022’sTop Gun: Maverickimproved onTop Gun’s story, its plot also proved that the original movie’s ending was more than a little ludicrous.Top Gunis a silly movie. From its campy beach volleyball sequence to the decision to keep the nationality of its faceless enemy combatants a mystery, the Navy drama does not ask to be taken seriously. Star Tom Cruise’s breakout movie is a cheesy cult classic, the sort of corny ‘80s movie that is enjoyable precisely because of how silly it is. However,Top Gun: Maverick’s returning heroesmade the original movie darker in retrospect.
Glen Powell’s Amazing 2024 Complicates Top Gun 3 After Maverick’s Tom Cruise Replacement Setup
Glen Powell’s amazing 2024 is great news for the star, but may complicate Top Gun 3’s plans for the franchise’s future hero after Top Gun: Maverick.
Top Gun’s ending portrayed Maverick as a victorious hero who won the day and got the girl, but 2022’s long-awaited sequelTop Gun: Maverickcomplicated this depiction. The movie introduced a downtrodden Maverick who never overcame his distaste for authority, languishing as a test pilot while his old friend Iceman rose through the ranks. AlthoughTop Gun: Maverick’s endingredeemed Maverick and gave him a chance to forgive himself for Goose’s death, the sequel proved it wasn’t all smooth sailing after the original movie’s ending. This made one element ofTop Gun’s sunny optimistic ending particularly ridiculous upon a re-watch.
Top Gun: Maverick Highlights The Big Problem With Top Gun’s Ending
The Original Movie Ended With Maverick Becoming An Instructor
After the events of Top Gun: Maverick,Maverick deciding to become a TOPGUN instructor inTop Gun’s ending seems bizarrely misguided. When given his choice of assignments, Maverick opts to stay at his school and teach new recruits the ropes. At the time, this looked like just another uplifting part of his story. Not only did Maverick get the girl and end up fire-forged friends with his old rival Iceman, but he also heroically saved the day, got over his guilt around Goose’s death, and became one of the very teachers he spent the preceding movie arguing with and ignoring.
This was all too good to be true, andTop Gun: MaverickmadeTop Gun’s endingterrible upon a re-watch as soon as the sequel made it clear that Maverick and Charlie didn’t last. The follow-up doubled down on this sad surprise by revealing that Maverick didn’t make it as a TOPGUN instructor, presumably due to his dangerously unconventional flying and his hair-trigger temper. Although his choice of assignments made his reticence to working as an instructor inTop Gun: Maverickironic, this detail was also believable. Maverick’s uncertainty underlined how much he had changed sinceTop Gun.
Why Top Gun: Maverick Was Right To Ignore Maverick’s Top Gun Ending
Tom Cruise’s Character Seemed Ready To Work As An Instructor
It was sad that, over three decades after taking on the role of TOPGUN instructor, Maverick was an insecure teacher inTop Gun: Maverick. However, this just proves that the sequel was right to ignore the original movie’s ending.Top Gun: Maverick’s story showed that Maverick struggled to teach recruits decades later, meaning he was certainly too young and inexperienced for the job at the end ofTop Gun. It is only afterIceman’sTop Gun: Maverickdeaththat he can truly embrace his mentor role, allowingTop Gun: Maverickto giveTop Gun’s hero the ending he always deserved.
Released 36 years afterTop Gun,Top Gun: Maverickearned just under $1.5 billion at the box office.
