Show Val Kilmer returns as Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick, and while he speaks very little in the movie, there are both real-world and story reasons for it. Warning: SPOILERS below for Top Gun: Maverick! Val Kilmer returns as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky in Top Gun: Maverick, and while he has very minimal dialogue, there are both real-world and story reasons for that. Overcoming numerous delays, the Top Gun sequel wound up being one of the most anticipated movies of Tom Cruise's career. Top Gun: Maverick sees Cruise return as hotshot pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell as he is now tasked with training TOPGUN graduates for an extremely challenging aerial mission. Kilmer makes a cameo as Iceman, Maverick's old rival turned friend, with the two characters speaking via text message early on in the movie and Iceman revealing he has terminal throat cancer. As Maverick begins to have doubts that he can train his team in time for the mission, Iceman summons him to his house to give him a pep talk. Iceman, now a four-star Admiral, types out his end of the conversation to Maverick on his computer. However, he works through the pain of speaking near the end of the scene to vocally encourage Maverick for his challenging mission. Throat cancer is something Kilmer has also battled himself. Though the actor has succeeded in beating the condition, the effects of the disease and his numerous surgeries to combat it have unfortunately severely impacted his ability to speak. Kilmer now communicates through an artificial voice box, making his scene in the movie Top Gun: Maverick even more emotional with his being a real-life cancer survivor.
Maverick and Iceman have a head-butting relationship in the original Top Gun, with Iceman viewing Maverick as a wreckless, insubordinate pilot. Maverick and Iceman nonetheless gradually grow to respect one another through their travails. With Maverick and Iceman's rivalry essential to Top Gun, the sequel shows that the bond they developed has held strong throughout their respective careers as naval aviators. Following their meeting, Iceman passes away from his throat cancer, and Maverick and his students attend his funeral. However, Top Gun: Maverick's attention is very much on Iceman's cameo in which his cancer and almost complete loss of his voice have done nothing to dampen his cheerful, free spirit. At a time when an irrepressible thrill-seeker like Maverick is haunted by uncertainty, especially with his friction with Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of his late friend Goose from the original Top Gun, Iceman reminds him of the world-class pilot he's always been. Iceman's faith in Maverick re-instills Maverick's faith in himself, and Kilmer's cameo is one of the most powerful moments in the Top Gun sequel, with its layered subtext of the actor's own real story, including A.I. being used to recreate Kilmer's voice. Even with only a handful of spoken lines by Kilmer due to his real-life condition, Iceman's appearance in Top Gun: Maverick is a heart-warming tribute to his performance in the role, bringing him back to give Maverick the boost of confidence he needs despite all that he's been through. They are, after all, ready to be each other's wingmen any time. NEXT: How Much Did Top Gun: Maverick Cost To Make (& What Box Office It Needs) Key Release DatesTop Gun: Maverick has finally soared into cinemas and proved to be more than worth the wait, defying all expectations to be a genuinely great legacy sequel. If you've heard anything about the film, it's that the flying sequences are astonishing and, sure, they definitely take your breath away. But as thrilling and awe-inspiring as it is to be put firmly in the danger zone as a cinemagoer, there is another aspect of the movie that could linger longer. Unlike other legacy sequels such as Scream or Jurassic World: Dominion, there are very few legacy characters who return. It's just Tom Cruise's Peter 'Maverick' Mitchell (obviously) and Val Kilmer's Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky. And it's in the handling of Iceman's return that Top Gun: Maverick delivers a sequence as powerful as any of its airborne moments. (Note: There are some spoilers ahead.) Paramount In the three decades-plus since Top Gun, Maverick (Tom Cruise) hasn't advanced further than Captain in the Navy. It's implied that it's down to his fittingly maverick ways, but even when he's been at his most disobedient, Maverick has always had a friend higher up: Iceman (Val Kilmer). Just when it seems as though Maverick is going to get kicked out of the Navy for good, Iceman comes to the rescue again. He's now an Admiral and commander of the US Pacific Fleet, so what he says goes. It's Iceman who recommends Maverick to train up a bunch of Top Gun graduates, including Goose's son Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw (Miles Teller), for a dangerous mission. As well as clashing with Rooster, Maverick unsurprisingly annoys Vice Admiral Simpson (Jon Hamm) and it all looks to be going very wrong. That is until Iceman asks to meet Maverick and we get the most emotional scene in the sequel as they catch up at Iceman's house. Maverick is told by Iceman's wife that an unspecified disease has come back, but they're keeping it a secret. In the scene, Iceman largely communicates via computer to encourage Maverick to continue, aware that this mission is just what his friend needs to let go of his lingering guilt over Goose's death. The scene ends with the pair embracing and in a brief bit of dialogue, Iceman jokes with Maverick over who the best pilot is. Following their meeting, a later scene reveals that Iceman has sadly passed away. It's a fairly needless detail to include and likely exists to rule out an Iceman return in a potential threequel, but it doesn't take away from the emotion of their reunion. Getty Images It would have been easy for the sequel to leave out Kilmer altogether, much like it did with Kelly McGillis's Charlotte Blackwood (who isn't mentioned at all) or Meg Ryan's Carole Bradshaw (who's revealed to have died since the first movie). Iceman could have simply not returned, with a passing comment made regarding what's happened to him. But that would be going against what was one of Top Gun's most important relationships. Yes, Maverick and Goose had the emotional punch, but Maverick and Iceman's journey from rivals to grudging respect to genuine wingmen was just as strong. It wouldn't have felt right for the sequel to just ignore that. Maverick needed a face from his past to help him resolve his guilt over Goose's death, somebody who was there at the time and who also likely knows what it's like to lose a wingman. In story terms, it's important that Maverick is set straight by Iceman as why would he listen to anybody else? But what makes the scene all the more poignant is that the filmmakers haven't shied away from Val Kilmer's real-life experience of throat cancer. In December 2017, Kilmer revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he had lived with throat cancer for two years, and that a procedure on his trachea reduced his voice to a rasp and left him short of breath. In his 2020 memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry, Kilmer revealed that, mercifully, he had been cancer-free for four years. Val Kilmer in 2019 Michael TullbergGetty Images It's because of his real-life condition that when we do hear Iceman speak in Top Gun: Maverick, he might not sound as you expect. It's might be hard to watch as a fan, but you're grateful that the scene is part of the sequel as it's one of the stand-outs. In his memoir, Kilmer also noted that it could have been different as he wasn't always sure he'd be returning as Iceman. "Tom was Maverick, but Maverick's nemesis was Iceman. The two went together like salt and pepper," he wrote (via Metro). "It didn't matter that the producers didn't contact me. As The Temptations sang in the heyday of Motown soul, 'Ain't too proud to beg'." Fortunately, Kilmer had his own real-life wingman in Tom Cruise. "[Tom] said, 'I'm not making this movie without Val'. When we filmed it, it was a very emotional day, having Val there and seeing him work with Tom after 35 years," producer Jerry Bruckheimer told The Hollywood Reporter. Kilmer's daughter Mercedes added: "It means a lot to my dad, as he's very proud of that film. This is what he loves to do. It was trippy, and very special, for my dad to be on set with all of his friends who made this movie when they were my age." We feel the need... the need for tears. Top Gun: Maverick is out now in cinemas.
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Monopoly: Top Gun edition Does Maverick save Iceman?The two once again went into the air on their first official mission together and Maverick saved Iceman from several enemy MiG-28s, allowing Iceman to grant Maverick his respect. At the end of the Top Gun his last and famous line "You can be my wingman anytime," was delivered.
Are Iceman and Maverick friends?When we see why Iceman has brought Maverick back to Top Gun, to teach Goose's son, Rooster, and from that, to hopefully learn to forgive himself, it speaks to the power of their friendship, built by respect and time. Iceman looks out for Maverick because Maverick once looked out for him.
What happens at the end of Top Gun: Maverick?What is the Top Gun: Maverick ending explained? With Maverick back as team leader, he ultimately chooses Rooster as his wingman for the mission. The group safely and successfully blows up the tank, though things get a little dicey on the way back.
Why does Val Kilmer not speak in Maverick?Val Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. Though he has emerged from his battle with the disease, as part of his treatment he underwent a tracheotomy that has severely impacted his ability to speak.
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What happens to Iceman in Maverick?
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