‘Top Gun: Maverick’s Val Kilmer Posts Epic Photo From Movie Cameo With Tom Cruise
Val Kilmer is ecstatic to be a part of Top Gun: Maverick, and took to his Instagram recently to express his gratitude for wingman Tom Cruise. Maverick’s been a huge crowd pleaser across the world. Top Gun: Maverick recently overtook Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to be the highest earner of 2022 so far. Top Gun fans have been clamoring for a follow up for nearly four decades, but Val Kilmer’s participation in the sequel was in question. It’s widely known that Kilmer has been battling throat cancer, so some fans didn’t know expect in regards to his iconic character, Iceman, returning.
However, Val Kilmer was able to come back for Maverick in a brief, but key scene. In this appearance, Kilmer’s Tom “Iceman” Kazansky encourages Cruise’s Maverick to push forward with training a brand new generation of pilots. Iceman is now an Admiral, and like Val Kilmer, the character is dealing with serious health issues. Due to procedures performed on Kilmer’s trachea, the actor doesn’t have his full voice, which was also reflected in the Iceman character. To fandom’s delight, Iceman uses a voice simulator like Val Kilmer himself to let Maverick know he’s still his wingman. The Willow star shared a heartwarming image directly from the scene on his instagram.
Val Kilmer is still Cruise’s wingman
Val Kilmer’s caption for the image expresses his admiration for co-star and friend Tom Cruise. “36 years later… I’m still your wingman.” Fans were quick to show their love of the scene and Kilmer himself. “The most moving sequence of the film,” one comment read. “Your scene with Tom was the highlight! Loved the movie,” another fan explained. Though Kilmer’s appearance is brief in the film, his character’s imprint is all over the story. Iceman is revealed to be an influence for getting Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell back into the Top Gun program as an instructor. Fans seemed to love seeing the former rivals bury the hatchet and become close friends.
Even through Val Kilmer’s life threatening illness, the Tombstone actor has stayed busy. Val Kilmer recently produced a documentary about his life using personal footage he had accumulated over 40 years. Val (available streaming on Amazon) is a deeply personal documentary about Kilmer, with the actor’s son narrating the film. The film was well received and currently boasts a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Kilmer is even developing a long in the works project that places him in front and behind the camera. Mark Twain and Mary Baker Eddy has Kilmer pulling double duty, with himself playing Twain and also directing the film.
