WARNING! This article contains spoilers for Top Gun: Maverick.
Top Gun: Maverick lived up to the iconic status of the original, but many fans were left wondering what happened to Charlie in Top Gun. More than three decades ago, Tony Scott's action drama movie for Paramount, Top Gun, hit the big screen. Not long after being sent to TOPGUN, hotshot pilot Maverick meets Charlie an astrophysicist and a civilian TOPGUN instructor at the academy. Despite Charlie's initial hesitation to start a romance with her student, they eventually engage in a relationship. However, the romance was clearly not meant to last with Maverick returning as a single man and no mention of what happened to Charlie in Top Gun: Maverick.
While the original Top Gun had elements of romance, with Charlie and Maverick's relationship adding to the frenetic narrative, it was never the sole focus of the film. Kelly McGillis has publicly speculated that aging and other physical changes over the years had to do with why she wasn't asked to return in Top Gun: Maverick. Sadly, this may very well be a factor, but there are also some signs that point to Maverick and Charlie's relationship being a short-lived one from the beginning in the original Top Gun.
Maverick & Charlie Aren't Meant To Last After Top Gun
Looking at the relationship in the original might explain what happened to Charlie in Top Gun. While Maverick and Charlie shared romantic moments, they quickly drifted away when things got tough. This is shown in the aftermath of Goose's death as Charlie hears Maverick quit TOPGUN from Wolfman (Barry Tubb), while he learns she took a job in Washington from someone else. The scene highlights how they didn't even consider their relationship before making big decisions about their respective futures. At the end of the day, both Maverick and Charlie are fueled by their individual dreams and passions that don't align in a way that would make their romance work.
Moreover, it is also worth noting that the ending of Top Gun finds Maverick and Charlie reuniting, but there's no indication of what's next for them. They hadn't spent much time with each other in the movie so a long-distance affair wouldn't be the best way to move forward, especially as neither was willing to give up their jobs just to be with the other. Apart from this, Maverick undergoes a hefty personal transformation by the end of Top Gun, as he is forced to learn the hard way that the value of teamwork and camaraderie trumps individual prowess, and the latter is rendered meaningless without the integrity required to stick together in the midst of danger.
Maverick And Charlie Were Career Driven
Another probable explanation for what happens to Charlie in Top Gun has to do with her promising career. Charlie is very career-driven in the original movie; she's a highly educated person in a highly important role for the Navy - all while being a civilian. It would only make sense for her character to stay on a career trajectory that's infused with more successes and accolades. She clearly has feelings for Maverick and enjoys their passionate fling, but it is not hard to imagine her suddenly realizing that he is not worth abandoning her career for.
Maverick, on the other hand, has no qualms about getting himself into hot water with his superiors in both Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick's continuation of the franchise's legacy. His love of flying is most important to him. In addition to his extraordinary talent as an aviator, Maverick's overflowing sense of self-confidence and wild, "rules-be-damned" way are what make him the charismatic leading man that old-school Top Gun lovers and new viewers alike gravitate toward to this day. Unfortunately, as seen in the 2022 sequel, these characteristics have significantly hindered his career advancement over the years. This surely put his and Charlie's ideal futures at odds.
The Death Of Goose May Have Driven Maverick And Charlie Apart
Another potential reason for Maverick and Charlie's separation stems from the traumatizing death of Goose. Top Gun: Maverick features Maverick confronting his past, including the demise of his former RIO, evidenced by the inclusion of his son, Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw. Rooster does not trust Maverick both because of Goose's death in Top Gun and because he held back Rooster's flying career at the request of Rooster's late mother. The sequel suggests Maverick opted to live a life without his own family to spare them any heartache in case anything happened to him as it did to Goose's family. Seeing him grapple with his new relationship with Penny in Top Gun: Maverick suggests he might have pushed Charlie away.
Maverick’s Relationship With Rooster Is Far More Important To Top Gun 2
While it makes sense for fans to question what happened to Charlie in Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick has much more impactful relationships to deal with, including between Maverick and Rooster. The shadow of Goose's death, which weighs as heavily on Maverick as it does Rooster, is a driving force in the film. The latter character has to learn to accept his father's death a little more deeply, seeing the tragic event for the accident it truly was. The young TOPGUN pilot also has to forgive Maverick's decision to hold him back and break free from the anxiety of recreating a similarly grim fate to his late father's while flying.
Maverick also has to finally put the past behind him, as well as figure out where he fits in the Navy's modern iteration, or if it is time to retire. Though Top Gun: Maverick isn't a war movie, a high-risk, nearly impossible mission drives its main plot on the surface. In the original, the lackluster romance could be excused as simple background dressing for this action-oriented story. However, the sequel proves through the relationship between Maverick and Rooster, as well as others in the film, that these elements can enhance an action movie.
Penny Benjamin Is A Great Charlie Replacement
The original Top Gun makes some mistakes with its romance between Maverick and Charlie which makes the successful romance in the sequel all the more surprising. As Maverick returns to TOPGUN, he is reunited with Penny. Though she does not appear in the original movie, Jennifer Connelly's character is mentioned in Top Gun, establishing a history with Maverick. The past connection works well for their relationship with Maverick returning to his past and correcting youthful errors while Penny is shown to be an independent person who is not waiting around for Maverick to return yet embraces the opportunity to explore what might have been.
Just as in the original, the love story is not what sells Top Gun: Maverick. However, Maverick and Penny's romance is an easier one to root for than the misguided tryst in the original. Penny and maverick feel like two people who have come back into each other's lives at the perfect time and are offering each other a life they know they want. On the other hand, Maverick and Penny in Top Gun felt like two people who got caught up in their attraction to each other while failing to realize they don't have a future together.
