Top Gun: Maverick is one of the most iconic movies of the 2020s so far. Featuring action-packed moments and high-flying stunts that have never been attempted before, the movie was a revelation, riveting audiences. Maverick flew to the top of the box office for weeks, becoming one of the highest-grossing movies ever. With its popularity, has come some crazy fan theories, and there's one that has picked up some steam. This theory from fans suggests that the wild plane stunts in the film may just be too crazy to be believed, and many fans think that Tom Cruise’s titular character was actually dead throughout the movie's run and that it was all a fantasy.
ScreenRant did a deep delve into some of the more unbelievable elements of Top Gun: Maverick, and it came out with a crazy theory about Maverick actually dying in the first 15 minutes of Top Gun 2. The scene in question features Tom Cruise as his iconic character ejecting when he reaches the max speed of Mach 10 in his plane. He emerges from the accident without a scratch. Fans believe this would be impossible, and it surely should have resulted in Maverick’s death. These viewers have theorized that the character did actually die in the scene, and the events following are all part of his dreams before he dies.
This theory certainly contradicts the idea that Top Gun: Maverick is just a fun, straightforward blockbuster flick. While far-fetched and likely not the intended vision for the film, fans have cited several aspects of the movie that support their theory, and Maverick's director, Joseph Kosinski didn't shoot the idea down when he heard about it.
Some of the scenes these fans cited include when Iceman makes a comment about Maverick letting go of his personal guilt and trauma, which some believe to be a form of deathbed acceptance. Fans have also said that Miles Teller’s Rooster and Glen Powell’s Hangman are too similar to Goose and Iceman from the original Top Gun, and they claimed the characters are actually a projection of Maverick who is reliving old memories while he dies. This is certainly a very deep and complex interpretation which is kind of blowing my mind.
Fans have also pointed to the more fantastical elements of the film’s plot as evidence of the “Maverick is dead” theory. Some claim that Maverick’s romance with Jennifer Connelly's Penny is too perfect, almost feeling like a fantasy dream. She is lit like a dreamlike figure in Maverick’s life, and the “riding off into the sunset” sequence just feels too pristine. The pilot's mission also has elements of fantasy, with the enemy being unnamed and the strange nature of the mission at hand. These plot elements don’t feel grounded in reality, and they could be yet another projection of a dying Maverick.
Of course, a more mainstream interpretation is that the more outlandish details are used to heighten the drama and turn Top Gun into a more epic, technically complex modern sequel. Also, the goal of the 2022 hit film was likely to have as large of an appeal as possible, therefore choosing not to name an enemy and asking audiences to suspend their belief for a more visually-centered experience makes sense.
However, it’s always fun to see different ways a story could be interpreted, and how audiences decide to read a film. Rumors of a Top Gun 3 have been swirling, so maybe we’ll finally get a definite answer about Maverick's fate in a future installment.
You can decide for yourself if Maverick’s story is really as ambiguous as it seems by checking out Top Gun: Maverick, which is currently streaming with a Paramount+ subscription. The original Top Gun is also streaming on the platform, for fans who want to do further investigating into the high-flying lore.
