Top Gun: Maverick was the sort of legacy sequel that studios dream of making. Maverick was an absolutely massive success, a bigger box office winner than even the original iconic movie. And so, despite the fact that there were decades between the two movies, it’s little surprise that Top Gun 3 is very likely to arrive a lot sooner after part two.
Top Gun 3 is already in development and while it’s far too early to have any guess what the new movie will be about or which actors from the previous films, other than Tom Cruise himself, will return, one actor is pretty sure he won’t be back. When asked by the UK’s Joe about appearing in Top Gun 3, Ed Harris simply said…
Oh, I doubt it. Yeah, no. I don’t see why they would ask me.
Ed Harris played Admiral Chester “Hammer” Cain in Top Gun: Maverick. He only appears in one scene early in the film, reading Cruise’s character the riot act after he takes an experimental jet up in the air without authorization. Having said that, it’s a great scene that sets the tone for the rest of the movie.
On the one hand, Ed Harris is great in Top Gun: Maverick, and one can imagine there might be some interest in bringing him back if only to try and recreate a great sequence. Having said that, since Harris isn’t particularly important to the plot of Maverick and considering that Cruise’s character seems to be heading off in a different direction following the events of the film, it’s unclear why these two would cross paths again.
Having said that. One can also guess that Paramount is going to want to do whatever is possible to recreate the success of the previous film, and part of that will likely mean bringing back as many elements from the movie that was a massive hit as possible.
And who knows, maybe Ed Harris will not only return in Top Gun 3 but will have an expanded role. Whatever the plot of Top Gun 3 ends up being, it will almost certainly need some high-ranking officers for Maverick to come into conflict with. Why bring in brand new characters and actors that we haven’t met when you can just as easily bring back characters we know?
Expectations are that most of the cast of Top Gun: Maverick will return for Top Gun 3. Jennifer Connelly has said she's spoken to director Joe Kosinski about the sequel and Miles Teller has indicated he may know something, though he's not revealing details. Top Gun 3 may come faster than Maverick, but that doesn't mean Top Gun 3 will happen soon.
But if there’s a single actor who seems the least likely to return Ed Harris is probably right that it’s him. Still, every movie would be better if Ed Harris is in it, so I’m not sure anybody would mind if they brought him back.
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