Glen Powell is part of Top Gun: Maverick's cast, and his role is all because of Tom Cruise. It's been more than 30 years since Cruise originally played Maverick in Top Gun, but he'll finally return to the role when the sequel is released in late 2020. As excited as fans of the first film are to see Maverick back in action, Top Gun 2 boasts a strong cast around Cruise - including Everybody Wants Some star Glen Powell.
In Top Gun: Maverick, Powell will play a new pilot who, so far, is only known as Hangman. He's been briefly shown in the trailers, with Powell flexing his muscles and bringing a lot of energy to the role. However, this wasn't the role that he originally auditioned for. Powell was among the list of actors in the mix to play Goose's son, Bradley Bradshaw. He competed with Nicholas Hoult, Miles Teller, and others for the coveted co-starring role, which Teller ultimately landed. But, instead of Top Gun 2 moving forward without Powell, he became involved thanks to Tom Cruise.
Although Powell wasn't chosen to play Bradley Bradshaw, his audition left an impression on Top Gun 2's star as well as multiple producers. Cruise was eager to find a way for Powell to have a part in the sequel, but not just any small part. It was decided that, to utilize Powell's talents best, portions of the film needed to be rewritten to beef up an existing role. This role proved to be Hangman and will result in Powell having what could be one of Top Gun 2's most prominent parts.
The changes to Top Gun: Maverick were specifically made to get Powell aboard the project, and so far, details on his character have largely been kept under wraps. But, it should be clear that Hangman will play an essential role in the movie. Cruise wouldn't have gone through the trouble of reworking Top Gun 2 just to give Powell a few extra scenes or lines of dialogue. It should be expected that Hangman will be featured throughout the sequel, possibly even as a rival for Bradley.
Not only does the expanded role in Top Gun 2 bode well for Powell's screentime in the sequel, but it could prove to be a breakout role for him. Cruise is one of the biggest movie stars on the planet and could look for a way to work with Powell again soon. If that is the case, Powell could be seen in an upcoming Mission: Impossible movie or one of several action movies or sequels Cruise has in development. At the very least, Powell was able to learn to fly after Cruise paid for the training lessons. Hopefully, Powell will leave audiences as impressed after seeing Top Gun: Maverick as Cruise was with his audition.
