In the original Top Gun, when Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell wasn’t in the cockpit of a plane or busy with a game of shirtless volleyball, he was charming Kelly McGillis’ Charlie Blackwood, an astrophysicist and civilian instructor at the Top Gun flight school. At the end of the movie, it looked like those two crazy kids had a bright future ahead of them.
34 years later, we’re reuniting with Captain Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick, but Charlie Blackwood won’t be back. While Kelly McGillis hasn’t been part of the Hollywood scene in years, the actress revealed that she wasn’t even asked to reprise her Top Gun role.
When asked if she’d attend any of the Top Gun: Maverick promotional events even though she’s not in the sequel, Kelly McGillis responded:
You know what, I don't know how to answer that because one, it hasn't happened. Two, if and when it did happen, I would have to assess where I am, what I'm doing, what's going on ... I can't project what I would or wouldn't do in the future. I have no idea because I don't know where I'll be.
Although the first Top Gun: Maverick trailer dropped at San Diego Comic-Con last week, the movie is still a little under a year away from release. Few of us know what our lives are going to be like after such a stretch of time, so I can’t blame her for not wanting to commit to anything just yet, especially since she’s not even part of this movie.
Kelly McGillis also mentioned during interview with ET that she hasn’t watched the Top Gun: Maverick trailer yet, adding:
Movies are odd things. I don't really keep in touch with anybody. I think I've spoken to a couple of people occasionally, but the truth is, movies are very odd work situations because you have a lot of people who come together from all different parts of the world.
Ideally Top Gun: Maverick will address Charlie Blackwood’s absence, because considering how important she was in the first movie, it’d be weird not to mention her at least once. As for whether or not Kelly McGillis will even watch Maverick, let alone participate in any of the promotional campaign, time will tell.
As for Tom Cruise’s Maverick, there will still be some romance in his life for his next cinematic appearance. His new love interest is being played by Jennifer Connelly, whose character hasn’t been named yet, but is reportedly a single mother and owner of the bar that the pilots in the movie visit. Kelly McGillis doesn’t know Connelly, but she said that she’s “so glad” she got the opportunity to star in Maverick.
The only other familiar face returning for Top Gun: Maverick is Val Kilmer’s Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. The new cast members joining Jennifer Connelly include Miles Teller, Ed Harris, Jon Hamm (who’s impressed by this movie’s technical feats), Glen Powell, Manny Jacinto, Lewis Pullman, Monica Barbaro and many more.
Top Gun: Maverick flies into theaters on June 26, 2020, but if you’re curious about what’s arriving later this year, head over to our 2019 release schedule.
