Tom Cruise returns to one of his earliest Hollywood roles in the long-awaited sequel film, Top Gun: Maverick. As Navy aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, Cruise is back to cruising the skies, but this time he also has to train a new generation of aviators while facing the uncertain future and a piece of the past that haunts him to this day.

Before you see the epic sequel to Top Gun this May 25, here are some facts about the film that you might find interesting.

1. It’s been 36 years since the first film premiered.

Top Gun first hit theaters in 1986 and Tom Cruise was in his early 20s when he first played the role of Maverick. Today, the actor is 59 years old, and his role as a respected aviator turned mentor to the rookies is really fitting given the huge gap between the first film and the sequel. Top Gun is also one of the franchises with the longest gaps between its films, running second to Bambi which took 64 years to have a sequel.

2. Maverick meets the son of his late friend Goose.

Goose is such an important character in the first film, and his impact remains in this sequel. In fact, his son Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw becomes one of Maverick’s mentees, but the past will raise conflict upon their encounter. Rooster is played by Miles Teller, who has appeared in the 2015 Fantastic Four remake and War Dogs.

3. The Iceman is back.

Val Kilmer also returns in the sequel as Maverick’s rival-turned-ally, Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. As the trailer reveals, it was actually Iceman who requested for Maverick to lead the Navy’s new roster of promising aviators. In an interview with People, Top Gun producer Jerry Bruckheimer said that Cruise really wanted to have Kilmer back for the sequel. Top Gun: Maverick was filmed after Kilmer recovered from throat cancer.

4. Tom Cruise & the cast were really filmed from inside the cockpit.

In the original movie, the cast members were filmed in the cockpit of an F-14 Tomcat, but only Tom Cruise had usable footage because the other actors struggled with that setup. But this time, the actors are now able to film in the cockpits of the F/A-18s in flight, acting and speaking their lines of dialogue, thanks to months of training.

5. Convincing Tom Cruise to star in Top Gun wasn’t easy.

In an interview with Variety, Bruckheimer said that Tom Cruise was always their choice to play Maverick, but convincing him to star in the film wasn’t easy. But when the Blue Angels at a Naval Air Facility in California took him for a ride, doing all kinds of stunts in an F-14, Cruise was convinced that he had to be in the movie.

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ opens in Phillippine cinemas on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Book your seats ahead and buy your tickets here.