Top Gun: Maverick only includes two main stars from the 1986 original Top Gun: Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise. Kilmer has a surprisingly important role in the movie as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, who is now a four-star admiral. Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski found a respectful way to incorporate Kilmer’s real-life battle with throat cancer while making Iceman an important part of the movie. Spoilers for Top Gun: Maverick follow.
The plot for Maverick finds Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) being called back to NAS North Island to train elite Top Gun graduates for a nearly impossible mission. Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson (Jon Hamm) makes it very clear that he wants nothing to do with Maverick and his unconventional ways because his hands are tied. His superior, Iceman, was the one who insisted Maverick teach these young pilots to work together to achieve their goals.
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Iceman had another motive. He wanted to see his friend let go of the guilt that has clouded him in the 36 years since Nick “Goose” Bradshaw died because Goose’s son Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller) is one of the new young pilots. Maverick and Rooster were not on good terms since it was Maverick who kept Rooster from enlisting in flight school until he no longer could. Iceman convinced Maverick he needed to be the one to prepare Rooster for the challenges ahead and repair their relationship. Maverick agreed, leading to a heartbreaking scene of Cruise and Kilmer hugging.
The script integrated Kilmer’s real-life cancer battle instead of ignoring it. In 2017, Kilmer said he fought throat cancer for two years and underwent chemotherapy and two tracheotomies. He can only speak by using an electric voice box. In Maverick, he delivers most of his lines by typing them into a computer, although he speaks to Cruise using AI technology later in the scene. In August 2021, Kilmer told PEOPLE he worked with Sonantic to recreate his voice.
“It’s a really sensitive scene. It’s a sensitive kind of narrative, when you’re bringing Val back and having a scene with [his character], Iceman,” Miles Teller told Entertainment Tonight. “There’s one particular scene between Val and Tom that just, man, [hits you] right in the feels.”
Cruise and Kilmer only share one scene together in Maverick. Later in the film, Iceman loses his battle with cancer. Thankfully, Kilmer, 62, is still with us. His children Jack Kilmer and Mercedes Kilmer have provided positive updates on their father’s health.
“I never underestimate my dad. He’s a very resilient person, nothing surprises me,” Mercedes recently told Page Six. “Now that he has his voice [thanks to technology], he can absolutely take on more projects.” Mercedes said Kilmer never lets anything stop him, jokingly adding, “I wish he would take a break!”
