'Top Gun: Maverick' Trailer Hints Major Character's Death, According to Fan Speculation

The Top Gun: Maverick trailer checks several boxes for longtime fans of the original 1986 action [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

The Top Gun: Maverick trailer checks several boxes for longtime fans of the original 1986 action blockbuster, from Maverick's jacket to a beach volleyball scene. However, there was one surprising piece missing, an appearance from Val Kilmer's Vice Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky. His absence has led to some fan speculation that the character will die.

top gun maverick funeral
(Photo: Paramount Pictures)

In the trailer, we see a shot of Tom Cruise's Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell at a funeral for a recently deceased friend. The person must have been close to Maverick, as another shot shows him angrily slamming the coffin.

Since Iceman is not included in any scene from the two-minute trailer, some fans speculated that the person in the coffin is the character.

In the original film, Maverick and Iceman did not initially get along, as Maverick's brash flying skills clashed with Iceman's style. However, the two became friends at the end, following the death of Lt. Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards). The new film takes place 34 years after the incidents in Top Gun, with Miles Teller playing Goose's son.

Kilmer, 59, has been a longtime supporter of a Top Gun sequel, going back to a 2015 Facebook post when he said he was given a Top Gun 2 script and instantly said yes before reading.

"We will all miss [original director] Tony Scott one of the kindest gentlemen I've ever met in the film biz, but let's fire up some fighter jets again," Kilmer wrote in 2015. "This is a long way off so calm down. This has been talked about for a long long time and being offered a role is very different from doing a role. I jumped the gun with my post. I jumped the topgun... An innocent mistake. It was just such a wonderful phone call with my agent..."

Last summer, it was confirmed that Kilmer would appear in the film, but it is not clear how much work he did on the movie. The actor, once beloved for his '90s action blockbusters, has faced health challenges in recent years. He fought throat cancer and looked almost unrecognizable in photos last year.

In a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Batman Forever star said his health battle changed him. He learned to not take himself as seriously as he once did.

"I was too serious," he said. "I'd get upset when things like Oscars and recognition failed to come my way."

Aside from Teller, Kilmer and Cruise, Maverick also stars Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm and Glen Powell.

Fans will finally learn who was really in the coffin when Top Gun: Maverick hits theaters on June 26, 2020.

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