Top Gun’s Iceman may be the enemy of Tom Cruise’s feckless test pilot, but Maverick needs his rival for the original movie to work. Released in 1986, the original Top Gun was an instant hit with audiences and an ideal recruitment tool for the real-life Air Force and Navy alike in an era when Vietnam movies were leaving a lot of young Americans horrified by the thought of military service.
Starring a young Tom Cruise as the reckless test pilot Maverick, Top Gun was a cheesy cult classic that saw future The Last Boy Scout helmer Tony Scott flex his considerable action cinema credentials in a fast-paced tale of obsession, tragedy, and personal growth. Top Gun may have solidified Cruise’s post-Risky Business potential as a leading man, but his co-star Val Kilmer almost stole the movie out from under Cruise as his rival Iceman.
The threadbare plot of Top Gun centers around Maverick growing out of his immaturity and learning to utilize his considerable flying skills as part of a team, and it’s a story that wouldn’t make any sense without Kilmer’s contribution as Iceman. Throughout the original Top Gun, Iceman is the only character out of himself, Goose, Jester, Viper, and Charlie who doesn’t compliment Maverick’s risky flying while admonishing his recklessness. The character’s steadfast nature makes him a perfect foil for Maverick, and the only one who Cruise’s character really needs to prove himself to (despite Charlie being Maverick's love interest and Viper being a more traditional mentor figure). Without Iceman, there’s nothing to keep Maverick in TOPGUN as opposed to becoming a stunt pilot.
Iceman consistently calls out the reckless, life-endangering behavior of Cruise’s character, and where the rest of the characters feel the need to note his extraordinary ability behind the controls, Kilmer’s character is the only one to note that this skill is worthless if he can’t put the lives of his teammates on par with his own. Iceman’s unsparing assessment of Maverick’s self-absorption is a big part of what makes Goose’s death hard for Cruise’s character, but as a result, it is Iceman’s advice (however harsh it may be) that drives Maverick to become the hero he is by the movie’s close.
Ironically, Top Gun almost missed out on Kilmer playing the unforgettably stern stoic Iceman as the actor hated Cruise and wanted nothing to do with the movie. In a hilarious real-life mirroring of their in-film circumstances, Kilmer was forced to take the part thanks to contractual obligations, only for him and Cruise to eventually warm to each other, with the pair eventually becoming so close that Cruise refused to reprise the role of Maverick unless Kilmer’s Iceman returned for Top Gun: Maverick too. Fortunately, the filmmakers acquiesced to Cruise’s demand, and the upcoming Top Gun sequel will feature the return not only of Maverick but also of his necessarily stern, ultimately perfectly-matched foil Iceman.
