After Tom Cruise’s long-awaited Top Gun sequel became a monumental hit in 2022, it was only natural that the world would ask “When’s the next one?” Fans seem eager to see the stunt-defying star and the rest of the Maverick cast back on the big screen. We’ve heard from actors like Glen Powell, Jennifer Connelly and such about their excitement for a third Top Gun, but one franchise alum just admitted to being surprised by those early reports. He also explained what he now knows about the threequel's status.
When Greg Tarzan Davis, who played LT Javy “Coyote” Machado in Maverick, attended the Los Angeles premiere of Gladiator II, he spoke to Brandon Davis about Top Gun 3. In his words:
We’re waiting to get it to a right place. When the news came out that there was going to be a Top [Gun] 3, honestly, it was a shock to all of us. And we’re all in a group message. Like ‘Did you – What’s going on? Is this real?’ And then, once it happened, I was on set with Tom, and I just talked to him about it.
As the Grey's Anatomy alum shared on the carpet of Ridley Scott's legacy sequel, he and the cast had no idea there was another one in the works until the news hit the internet for the rest of us. How wild is that? In January, Deadline reported Paramount was developing the sequel with Tom Cruise, Miles Teller and Glen Powell on board and director Joseph Kosinski possibly back at the helm or serving as a producer alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison. It was also reported that screenwriter Ehren Kruger working on a draft of the script.
It's a good thing theTop Gun: Maverick group chat remains active, so the cast members could all talk about it over message. Greg Tarzan Davis later recalled during his recent interview that he received phone calls from family members, asking "are you flying right now?" As for the group chat, Davis also joked that Glen Powell was the most "confused" by the news.
Greg Tarzan Davis is also co-starring with Tom Cruise on the upcoming Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning, so he could casually ask the actor about it while on the job. (You know, as one does.) Davis revealed that and also shared more insight into how Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer are approaching the flick:
And he really just wants the story to be right. We don’t want to just see it because the last one made a lot of money. The same thing with [producer] Jerry [Bruckheimer]. They love to tell stories, they love to entertain an audience. And, if we can’t do that, I don’t know if there’ll be a three, but I know that we’re working hard to get it there.
Considering the massive success and love Top Gun: Maverick earned from audiences over 35 years after its classic '80s counterpart, it makes sense that Tom Cruise and the other filmmakers don’t want to flippantly make a third movie without putting some thought into it. Over the summer, Jerry Bruckheimer shared that there wasn’t a script for the threequel yet and that it “will be a while.” Still, they did share their ideas with Tom Cruise, who really liked them.
Aside from Greg Tarzan Davis, other actors from Maverick have commented on the potential third movie as well. Jennifer Connelly said she’d “be there” for the next movie whereas Lewis Pullman admitted he didn’t know much about it yet. All in all, it seems that Davis and his colleagues are waiting for updates on the movie, and that remains the case for fans as well.
You can revisit both Top Gun movies by streaming them with a Paramount+ subscription. You can also catch Tom Cruise and Greg Tarzan Davis in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, which hits theaters on May 23, 2025.
