'Top Gun: Maverick' to Include Flashbacks Including Footage From Original Movie

During a panel earlier today at Comic Con Experience in São Paulo, Paramount Pictures revealed a sizzle reel for a number of its upcoming blockbuster releases, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Rocketman, and Top Gun: Maverick.

According to those in attendance, the Maverick footage was a compilation of scenes from the film, including sequences from the original Top Gun. According to a report at Omelete, the implication seems to be that those scenes will be incorporated into the film proper and are not just part of the sizzle reel, meaning that Top Gun: Maverick will include flashbacks to the original movie.

That is a strategy used throughout the Rocky movies, and particularly leaned upon in Creed II, which just came out and is more or less a direct sequel to Rocky IV.

Top Gun: Maverick filmed in San Diego this fall, having previously filmed at the Naval Air Station North Island in May of this year. There aren't a lot of details about the film available yet, but the final cast members were revealed earlier this month and back in August it was announced that the film's 2019 release date had been pushed back to June of 2020.

The sequel to the 1986 classic, Maverick has been in development for years, but struggled to move forward following the death of Tony Scott in 2012. However, that all changed back in June when Cruise shared a photo of himself in full flight gear with a jet in the background. The image was tagged with the iconic "Feel the need" slogan, summing things up pretty perfectly.

When the original Top Gun was released on home video, it was the first affordably-priced VHS tape, effectively changing the way movies were consumed for decades and setting a standard that is observed for physical media to this day.

In addition to Cruise, the cast of Top Gun: Maverick includes Val Kilmer, Glen Powell, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Ed Harris, Lewis Pullman, and many more. Kilmer will reprise his role as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky and original producer Jerry Bruckheimer is producing while Harold Faltermeyer is returning to compose the score. The film is directed by Joseph Kosinski on a screenplay by Peter Craig, Justin Marks, Ashley Edward Miller, and Zack Stentz.

Top Gun: Maverick is set to be released on June 26, 2020.

h/t: Omelete