Top Gun: Maverick Director Speaks Out on Val Kilmer’s Return as Iceman

Top Gun: Maverick is headed to theaters on May 27th and when the sequel to 1986’s Top Gun soars onto the big screen, it will bring with it some familiar faces from the first film. Joining Tom Cruise in reprising his role from the original film is Val Kilmer, who will come back as Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky. Details about the character’s appearance in Top Gun: Maverick haven’t been revealed, but one thing that isn’t a secret is the excitement about Kilmer’s involvement. Director Joe Kosinski opened up about the return in an interview with Total Film (via Gamesradar) and said that the reunion between Kilmer and Cruise, as well as that of their characters, was one of his favorite aspects of the film.

“That was a huge, huge get — having Val come back to play Iceman,” Kosinski said. “To get to work with an actor of that caliber, to see the chemistry, the camaraderie between him and Tom, and to have those two characters reunite in this film, was a really special moment, and one of my favorite parts of the film.”

The role of Iceman in the original Top Gun is arguably one of Kilmer’s most beloved and iconic roles and fans have been excited to see the actor return to it since news of his casting in Top Gun: Maverick back in 2018, excitement that has only grown as the film gets closer and closer to release. In the original film, Cruise’s Maverick and Kilmer’s Iceman started out as rivals at the Top Gun school, but by the time the film concludes have come to share a mutual respect for one another.

In Top Gun: Maverick, “After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: ‘Rooster’, the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka ‘Goose’. Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.”

In addition to Cruise and Kilmer, Top Gun: Maverick stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, and Ed Harris.  Top Gun: Maverick opens in theaters on May 27th.

Are you excited for Top Gun: Maverick? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!