The world has changed significantly since Maverick (Tom Cruise) and Iceman (Val Kilmer) pledged to always be each other's wingman in Top Gun and director Tony Scott plans for the sequel, Top Gun 2, to reflect that.

Scott spoke recently to Hit Fix and confirmed that he and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are prepping for a Top Gun followup - which Tom Cruise is willing to return for - but was mum on the subject of whether or not Maverick would be back as well.

Some 24 years have passed since Top Gun hit theaters and Scott has plans for Top Gun 2 to examine the changes that have occurred in the U.S. Air Force since. Scott's approach was in part inspired by his encounter with a fellow who operates unmanned aircraft (a.k.a. drones) for the Air Force - an incident that has motivated the filmmaker to travel to Fallon, Nevada so that he may learn more about the computer experts and technicians that have begun to replace fighter pilots.

Paramount wants Christopher McQuarrie (Wolverine2) to write the script for Top Gun 2, which would presumably incorporate the "unmanned aircraft controlled by party-happy computer geeks" angle that Scott is talking about. Does that mean that the sequel will enter Stealth territory and revolve around malfunctioning computer equipment - or possibly even renegade A.I.? The idea didn't work out so well in that Rob Cohen-directed box office bomb, to put it mildly.

Will Tom Cruise Star in a Top Gun Sequel?
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The notion of a Top Gun movie that does not involve Cruise as Maverick might go over better nowadays than it would have, say, ten years ago. Even so, we're not sure how excited everyone is by the prospect of Top Gun 2, regardless of whether or not Cruise returns. The first Top Gun is still an entertaining watch (even if, stylistically speaking, it's firmly rooted in the 1980s), but the film did not exactly end on a note that set up or begged for a sequel.

Scott told Hit Fix that Top Gun 2 won't be his next project, but that it could be the one right after. The filmmaker also says he neither wants to remake or reboot the original Top Gun but hopes to do "a new movie." That's something to be happy about... right?

Are you excited by the prospect of Top Gun 2?

Source: Hit Fix