It’s a truth universally acknowledged—to paraphrase Jane Austen on the topic of ’80s action blockbusters—that any single Maverick in possession of a good Top Gun sequel must be in want of an Iceman to play homoerotic volleyball with. And so—now that Top Gun: Maverick seems like it’s going to be a thing that actually exists, and not just the concussed product of Tom Cruise’s frequently battered brain—it’s quickly been announced that Val Kilmer is back in, too, obviously.
Kilmer, of course, played Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the 1986 original, delivering his rivalry with Cruise’s Maverick through the maximum amount of steely, emotionally charged glares. The news of his return to the series is courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, which notes that Kilmer originally teased fans with the possibility as early as 2015, when the script for the now-confirmed film was still being laboriously dragged to life.
Cruise’s old Oblivion director, Joseph Kosinski, is directing the 33-years-removed sequel; Top Gun: Maverick is scheduled to return to the Danger Zone on July 12, 2019.