‘Top Gun: Maverick’: And Its Tribute To Val Kilmer And Iceman Is More Powerful Than Any Flight

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ has finally hit theaters and it hasn’t taken long to prove that the wait was worth it, defying all expectations to be a genuinely great sequel. If you’ve heard anything about the movie, it’s that the flight sequences are amazing and, yes, they definitely take your breath away. But as exciting and inspiring as it is to be in on the high-flying action as a moviegoer, there’s another aspect of the movie that might strike you even more.

Unlike other sequels like ‘Scream’ or ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’, there are very few returning characters. Just Tom Cruise’s Peter ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (obviously) and Val Kilmer’s Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky. And it’s in handling Iceman’s return that ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ delivers a sequence as powerful as any of its on-air moments.

Spoilers for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ below

In the more than three decades since “Top Gun,” Maverick (Tom Cruise) hasn’t risen above Captain in the Navy. It is implied that it is due to his appropriately maverick manner, but even when he has been most disobedient, Maverick has always had a friend in high places: Iceman (Val Kilmer). Just when it looks like Maverick is going to be kicked out of the Navy for good, Iceman returns to the rescue. He is now an admiral and commander of the US Pacific Fleet, so whatever he says goes to church.

It is Iceman who recommends Maverick train a group of Top Gun graduates, including Goose’s son, Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw (Miles Teller), for a dangerous mission. In addition to clashing with Rooster, unsurprisingly, Maverick annoys Vice Admiral Simpson (Jon Hamm) and everything seems to be going pretty bad. That is until Iceman asks to see Maverick and we get the most emotional scene in the sequel, when they catch up at Iceman’s house. Iceman’s wife tells Maverick that an unspecified illness has returned, but they keep it a secret.

In the scene, Iceman communicates largely through a computer to encourage Maverick to continue, knowing that this mission is just what his friend needs to put aside his lingering guilt over Goose’s death. The scene ends with the pair hugging and in a short dialogue, Iceman jokes with Maverick about who is the better pilot.

After their meeting, a later scene reveals Iceman sadly passing away. It’s a pretty unnecessary detail to include and probably exists to rule out a return of Iceman in a possible third part, but it doesn’t take away from the excitement of their encounter.

It would have been easy for the sequel to leave out Kilmer entirely, as it did Kelly McGillis’s Charlotte Blackwood (who is not mentioned at all) or Meg Ryan’s Carole Bradshaw (who is revealed to have died since the first film). Iceman might just not have come back, perhaps with a simple comment about what happened to him.

But that would be going against what was one of the most important relationships in Top Gun. Yes, Maverick and Goose took the emotional hit, but Maverick and Iceman’s journey from rivals to first grudging respect and finally true companions was just as strong.

It wouldn’t have felt right for the sequel to just ignore that. Maverick needed a face from his past to help him resolve his guilt over Goose’s death, someone who was there at the time and probably knows what it’s like to lose a partner as well. In terms of the story, it’s important for Maverick to be enlightened by Iceman because why would he listen to anyone else?

But what makes the scene even more poignant is that the filmmakers haven’t shied away from the real-life experience of Val Kilmer’s throat cancer. In December 2017, Kilmer revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he had lived with throat cancer for two years and that a procedure on his trachea reduced his voice to a raspy tone and left him breathless. In his 2020 memoir, ‘I’m Your Huckleberry,’ Kilmer revealed that he had thankfully been cancer-free for four years.

Due to his real-life condition, when we hear Iceman speak in ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ it may not sound like what you’d expect. It may be hard to watch as a fan, but you have to be thankful that the scene is part of the sequel, as it is one of the most prominent, exciting and important scenes for the saga.

In his memoirs, Kilmer also noted that it might have been different as he wasn’t always sure he would return as Iceman (in Meter).

Tom was Maverick, but Maverick’s nemesis was Iceman. The two went together like salt and pepper. It didn’t matter that the producers didn’t contact me. As The Temptations sang in the heyday of Motown soul, ‘Ain’t too proud to beg’.

Fortunately, Kilmer had his own real-life partner in Tom Cruise. As producer Jerry Bruckheimer told The Hollywood Reporter.

Tom said, ‘I’m not going to do this movie without Val.’ When we shot it, it was a very emotional day, having Val there and seeing him work with Tom after 35 years,

Kilmer’s daughter, Mercedes, added:

It means a lot to my dad as he is so proud of that movie. This is what he loves to do. It was amazing and very special for my dad to be on set with all his friends. He made that movie when he was my age.

Excuse me, we have to go get a tissue so we can continue writing.

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is in theaters now.