Top Gun: Maverick failed to show a side of Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw's (Miles Teller) character that Top Gun 3 definitely needs to showcase. As part of the sequel's attempt to explore Pete "Maverick" Mitchell's (Tom Cruise) life, Joseph Kosinski's Top Gun sequel introduced Nick "Goose" Bradshaw's (Anthony Edwards) grown-up son who harbored a grudge against his dad's former flying partner. Between his personal relationship with Maverick and the immense pressure to excel at flying, Rooster was serious and all tense for the most part of Top Gun: Maverick, which wasn't really his true personality.
Instead, Rooster can be a pretty relaxed and happy person, as seen in his performance of Great Balls of Fire in Top Gun: Maverick. For context, the pub performance parallels Top Gun's version which featured Goose, but instead of focusing on his son, the sequel zeroed in on Maverick's reaction. Since the scene was presented from Mitchell's point-of-view, it wasn't until Paramount released Rooster's full performance that his more relaxed side was revealed. Top Gun 3 needs to showcase more of this, as this makes him more of a charismatic lead for the potential Top Gun 3 - and shows that there's still room for future films to show more of the character's depth.
What Rooster’s Top Gun 3 Story Could Be
Despite playing an integral part in Top Gun: Maverick, Rooster was merely a supporting character in the film. The good thing is, it sets up what's next for the character in case Top Gun 3 moves forward. If the young Bradley fronts the franchise moving forward, the threequel will be the first time that the series will focus on a work-in-progress pilot. While Rooster is hailed as one of the best contemporary TOPGUN graduates, he is far from his confident and even cocky predecessors like Maverick and Tom "Iceman" Kazansky (Val Kilmer). Top Gun 3 can track his progress as an elite Navy pilot as he works to reach his maximum potential.
Rooster Or Hangman: Who Should Lead Top Gun 3
Despite having a more prominent role in Top Gun: Maverick, Maverick’s real successor, Hangman (Glen Powell) arguably overshadowed Rooster because the latter was more in line with the franchise's past leads. Like Maverick and even Iceman, Hangman is driven, cocky, and has a wicked sense of humor. Because Rooster was dealing with a lot of hang-ups that came with reuniting with his dad's flying partner, he tended to be more uptight and sullen, which wasn't as exciting to watch as the jovial and sarcastic Hangman.
Moving forward, however, Top Gun 3 needs both characters to front the film series. Filling Tom Cruise's shoes for a potential franchise lead successor will be difficult, if not impossible. So Paramount's best bet in terms of ensuring the franchise's future is to give audiences more characters to be invested in. Luckily, the franchise already established a blossoming relationship between Top Gun: Maverick's Hangman and Rooster, which could be the core of Top Gun 3. Instead of an intense rivalry, the threequel could focus on their friendship.
Will Top Gun 3 Happen?
Right now, there are no concrete plans for Top Gun 3 to happen. Cruise's schedule is packed for the next several years, so it may not be something that he is rushing to do. For context, the A-lister is reportedly developing a new action franchise, a musical, and something with Tropic Thunder's Les Grossman. An Edge of Tomorrow sequel may also be on the docket, as well as, a space-set project with director Doug Liman. That's all on top of the Mission: Impossible film series.
That being said, It isn't outside the realm of possibility that Paramount+ is able to convince him to move the franchise forward sooner rather than later. Given Top Gun: Maverick's impressive success, the studio would understandably be eager to capitalize on the franchise's growing popularity and develop it into a full-action franchise in the near future. Perhaps they can opt to focus on tackling Rooster and Hangman's story first, while Maverick stays in the background temporarily. From there, the potential Top Gun 4 can bring them all together for a new mission.
Given his ties to the original Top Gun film, Rooster is an interesting character to co-headline the burgeoning franchise moving forward, especially in contrast with Hangman, who is essentially an outsider. However, the movie series needs to develop him beyond his relationship with Goose and Maverick. Top Gun: Maverick barely scratched the surface of his true personality, hopefully, Top Gun 3 fully explores it.