Honestly, the hype for Top Gun: Maverick was mostly about Tom Cruise. We all expected him to push some boundaries, fly some real jets, and maybe cheat death again. But the real secret to why that movie didn't just crash and burn as a late-stage sequel was the Top Gun 2 cast. It wasn’t just a "best hits" reel of 1986. It was a weirdly perfect blend of new blood and old ghosts that actually made us care about the F/A-18 sequences beyond just the cool G-force face-melting.
The Elephant in the Cockpit: Rooster and Maverick
You can't talk about this cast without Miles Teller. He plays Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw. He’s the son of Goose, and let’s be real, the mustache alone deserved an Oscar. Teller didn't just show up and look like Anthony Edwards; he had to carry the emotional weight of a guy who thinks Maverick sabotaged his career.
The tension between Cruise and Teller is basically the spine of the whole movie. It’s not just about flying. It’s about a surrogate father-son relationship that’s gone completely sideways. Teller actually went through a "Tom Cruise boot camp" to prepare. He wasn't just sitting in a gimbal in front of a green screen; he was pulling 7Gs in a real cockpit, which is why his performance feels so physically strained. It’s because it was.
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The New Class: Hangman, Bob, and Phoenix
Glen Powell as "Hangman" is the standout for a lot of people. He’s got that arrogant, "Iceman-lite" energy but with a modern edge. Interestingly, Powell originally auditioned for the role of Rooster. He didn’t get it. He was gutted. But Tom Cruise saw something in him and basically told him, "I don’t just choose great roles, I choose great movies and make the roles great." Cruise even paid for Powell's flight school lessons to get him on board.
Then you have the "nerd" of the group, Lewis Pullman as Bob. No cool call sign, just "Bob." It was a genius bit of casting because he feels like a regular guy caught in a room of superhumans. Monica Barbaro as Phoenix also breaks the mold—she’s not there to be "the girl," she’s there because she’s the most competent pilot in the room.
What Most People Get Wrong About Penny Benjamin
A lot of fans walked out of the theater wondering if they’d missed a movie. Jennifer Connelly plays Penny Benjamin, the love interest. People kept asking, "Wait, was she in the first one?"
The answer is no, but her name was. She’s the "Admiral's daughter" Maverick was mentioned to have gone "ballistic" with in the original 1986 film. Using her instead of bringing back Kelly McGillis was a gutsy move, but it worked because it gave Maverick a history that felt lived-in without needing a flashback every five minutes. It felt like they had a 30-year on-again, off-again mess of a relationship.
Val Kilmer and the Iceman Legacy
The most emotional part of the Top Gun 2 cast is undeniably Val Kilmer. Given his real-life battle with throat cancer, many wondered if he’d even appear. His scene with Cruise is arguably the best-written moment in the film.
Kilmer couldn't speak much, so the filmmakers used AI technology—specifically from a company called Sonantic—to recreate his voice using old archival recordings. It’s a brief cameo, but it anchors the film in a way that makes Maverick's isolation feel real. When Iceman tells him, "The Navy needs Maverick," it’s the only person Maverick will actually listen to.
The Hard Truth About the Production
If you think these actors had it easy, think again. Jon Hamm, who plays Admiral "Cyclone" Simpson, described the footage as "out of this world" because of the sheer physical toll. Ed Harris pops in for a few minutes as "Hammer" Cain just to tell Maverick he’s a dinosaur, and even that felt heavy.
The production was delayed for years, partly because of the pandemic, but also because they refused to use CGI for the flight scenes. The cast had to learn how to operate the IMAX cameras themselves while flying because there was no room for a crew in the cockpit.
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Why This Cast Actually Worked
Most sequels fail because they try to replace the original characters with younger, blander versions. This movie didn't do that. It let the new pilots be their own people while forcing Maverick to actually grow up.
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of naval aviation or just want to see how this movie stacks up against the original, your next step should be watching the "behind the scenes" flight training footage. It completely changes how you view the actors' performances when you realize they were actually nauseous and struggling with G-forces during their best lines.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Watch the "Top Gun: Maverick" flight training featurettes to see the cast's real-time reactions to 8G maneuvers.
- Compare the call signs: Look into how real naval aviators get their call signs; they are usually much less "cool" and more embarrassing than "Hangman" or "Maverick."
- Check out Val Kilmer’s documentary "Val" for a deeper look at his career and the health journey that led to his powerful cameo.