‘Top Gun: Maverick’: Why are Meg Ryan and Kelly McGillis not in the sequel?

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is one of the most anticipated movies of this 2022, and many point to it being one of the biggest box office hits this spring. Many and many fans will go to the cinema dragged by the nostalgia that the film emanates as a sequel to the great success of the eighties. However, as has already been known, the second part has some obvious omissions: the female leads of the original film released in 1986.

“Those weren’t stories we were shufflingdirector Joseph Kosinski told Insider.I didn’t want every story to always look back. It was important to introduce some new characters“.

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ follows the iconic character introduced to us by Tom Cruise 36 years ago, aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, who now finds himself training a detachment of TOPGUN graduates, including the late son of Goose’s best friend, Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), also known as Rooster, for a dangerous mission. The sequel is set 30 years after the original and will screen at Cannes before hitting theaters on May 26.

The character of Rooster could be considered the emotional crux of Maverick, the story inherently involves Goose’s wife, who was played by meg ryanRooster’s mother. However, Ryan, along with Cruise’s love interest from the first film, Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood, played by Kelly McGillisare not in the film (although Ryan’s character is apparently seen in flashbacks from the original film).

McGillis previously told Entertainment Tonight in 2019 that he was not asked or suggested anything for a return to the second installment due to his appearance.

“I’m old, I’m fat and I look appropriate for my age. And the movie is not about any of that”

Despite the forceful statements of McGillis, retired from acting for years, there has been no explanation from the producers as to why his character has not been included, beyond the director’s statements. Was it really her for changing the protagonist’s love interest? Was it due to her appearance as she says? Or has it been her because she no longer works in the cinema? Is it just a coincidence that neither Ryan’s character nor McGillis’ character is missing?

In this second part, Maverick chases his ex-partner Penny Benjamin, played by Jennifer Connelly. Penny’s character is someone who is mentioned but does not appear. She is referred to as “the admiral’s daughter” in the first film. “Penny Benjamin is a character we’ve heard about but never seen before, it was an amazing opportunity to bring Jennifer Connelly’s character into this movie.Kosinski told Insider. For the sequel, Penny is a single mother who owns a bar near the flight school where Maverick teaches.

Who we did see in the first and will see again is the actor Val Kilmer, who reprises his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. The cast of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ also includes new faces like Glen Powell, Jay Ellis Y Monica Barbaro.

As for the soundtrack, Lady Gaga is in charge of picking up the baton from the Berlin group (who set the bar very high with ‘Take my breath away’) and joins the ‘Top Gun’ universe with the new ballad ‘Hold My Hand’. The artist has also contributed to the score with hans zimmer, Lorne Balfe Y Harold Faltermeyer.

Early reactions to the film have already praised the blockbuster’s gravity-defying stunts and “pure action.”