Glen Powell, the star of Top Gun: Maverick, has detailed how Tom Cruise handled a significant mid-flight problem during the 2022 sequel’s filming. In Top Gun: Maverick, which takes place more than 30 years after the first film, Cruise makes a comeback as pilot Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. After disobeying orders and damaging a prototype hypersonic jet, Cruise’s character is almost permanently grounded. However, he is later sent back to teach at the US Navy Fighter Weapons School, where he had graduated. For the film’s flying scenes, the actors actually flew as passengers in real Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets, negating the need for computer-generated imagery.
In an earlier Men’s Health interview Powell, Cruise’s co-star, disclosed that there were technical problems with the fighter jet that Cruise was riding in during production. But when the pilot brought the aircraft to a stop while Cruise was on board, the celebrity just grinned and got out of the aircraft. Powell, meantime, was shocked by his response and exclaimed, “The guy almost died, and he’s smiling.” He said, “ There will never be another Tom Cruise. He and the pilot landed the plane with a wire. He smiled, got out of the plane. I was like, That guy almost died, and he’s smiling.”
Instead of depending solely on state-of-the-art visual effects to create the kind of intense action sequences seen in films like Top Gun: Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski and his crew would want to use real-world aerial imagery whenever feasible. In addition to flying as passengers in the dual-seat F/A-18Fs with experienced fighter pilots at the helm and settling the US Navy, a reported $11,374 per hour, Cruise and his co-stars went through a rigorous three-month boot camp to prepare them for the g-forces and aerial stunts they would be performing.
Although these lengths are remarkable, producer Jerry Bruckheimer has already disclosed that Cruise did wish to pilot a Navy Super Hornet himself, but his pitch was ultimately turned down. Even though Cruise has piloted his own P-51 Mustang and helicopters, it was a reasonable move on the part of the Navy considering the risks and responsibilities of flying an aircraft as expensive as the $70 million F/A-18. Cruise and his co-stars are optimistic about a potential Top Gun 3, so the adventurous actor might still be inclined to try his luck. It’s unclear if Cruise would be successful in persuading the Navy to grant him permission to pilot his own Super Hornet after being rejected for Top Gun: Maverick, but it’s quite probable that he would still be eager to take command of one if given the opportunity.