Throughout his career, Tom Cruise has had many roles that have helped cement his legacy, but he's now confirmed he'll reprise one of his most popular roles as Maverick for Top Gun 2. Cruise first brought the hot-shot pilot to life in 1986 and the summertime adventure has only continued to gain a following ever since. While the first Top Gun is not one of Cruise's best outings critically, it wound up being a highly successful film financially. This only continued to make it surprising that a sequel had not yet been officially announced, as many have been waiting to see what else Maverick and Iceman (Val Kilmer) have been up to.

Top Gun 2 has continued to be a topic of conversation as Cruise has promoted his latest outings in recent years. However, each time he has been asked in the past, there has not been much forward movement to report on - until now.

While speaking to Sunrise 7 to promote The Mummy, the hosts asked him if there was any news to share on Top Gun 2. Cruise was happy to confirm that the sequel is indeed happening and is something that he will film within the next year. See his full, joyous statement below.

WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE: @TomCruise just confirmed that Top Gun 2 is happening! "I’m gonna start filming it probably in the next year". #sun7 pic.twitter.com/X17xvxz4Q4— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 23, 2017

With Cruise being able to confirm that Top Gun 2 is moving forward, fans of the original film have finally received the long-awaited good news they've been waiting for. As this is the first real step forward the project has had in some time, it is still rather unclear how it will bring back not only Cruise as Maverick, but also Kilmer as Iceman. It is difficult to imagine both of the pilots returning for the sequel and not giving the characters the chance once again to fly, but at this point both Maverick and Iceman should've had the chance to climb the ranks of the Navy. That said, neither of their personas indicate an interest in sitting behind a desk instead of in a cockpit.

If filming truly is set to begin within the next year, Paramount still has a heavy amount of pre-production to get through before then. Top Gun 2 does not yet have a director attached, and Cruise's stardom in addition to the nostalgia for the original may be enough to lure frequent Cruise collaborators like Doug Liman or Christopher McQuarrie onboard. Even if that does not happen, finding a director should be next up for the studio, before finalizing the script, casting additional roles, scouting locations, and so on. Should Cruise's statements be true, these are all announcements we can expect to hear about over the next year.

Top Gun 2 is currently in development and does not have a release date.

Source: Sunrise 7