While Top Gun‘s ending originally included an extra scene, keeping this sequence intact would have ruined Top Gun: Maverick’s entire plot. Top Gun may be a cult classic, but it is fair to say that the blockbuster action movie wasn’t overly concerned with realistic character drama. There were plenty of romantic and tragic moments in Top Gun, but director Tony Scott’s stylish hit was primarily an escapist movie – as demonstrated by the removal of a more sobering ending scene. From Maverick getting away with maneuvers that would get a real-life pilot discharged to TOPGUN holding classes in empty aircraft hangars instead of classrooms, Top Gun‘s priority as a wish-fulfillment fantasy was apparent through its final moments.
While Top Gun 3’s expected release might take the series in a more grounded direction, Top Gun: Maverick mostly maintains the 1986 original’s larger-than-life tone. The beach football matches are still present, Maverick is still able to survive injuries no human body could endure, and the enemies of the US Navy are still conveniently faceless, nation-less entities with no specific geopolitical identities. However, Top Gun: Maverick successfully takes a more subdued approach to the movie’s character drama. In the 2022 sequel, Maverick is haunted by the death of his friend Goose decades after the event occurred and – unlike in Top Gun‘s final ending – he can’t simply shrug off this trauma.
Top Gun Cutting Goose’s Grave Scene Shaped Maverick’s Sequel Story
Top Gun originally included a scene in which Maverick got some closure by visiting Goose’s grave at the end of the film, though this cut sequence could have inadvertently ruined the movie’s much-delayed sequel before it ever began production. While Iceman’s death in Top Gun: Maverick was the catalyst that led Maverick on his final mission, it was the haunting memories of Goose’s death that held him back over the years. Top Gun: Maverick makes it clear that Cruise’s character never climbed the ranks in the Navy, maintained his relationship with Charlie, or managed to keep his personal and professional life intact because of his guilt over Goose’s death.
This plot point wouldn’t have rung true if Top Gun had ended with Maverick visiting Goose’s grave as planned. If this scene stayed in Top Gun’s final cut, the last time viewers saw Maverick would have involved him owning up to his role in his friend’s death. Instead, the team behind Top Gun jettisoned this downbeat moment and accidentally saved the sequel in the process. Top Gun: Maverick’s plot only works because Maverick is still tortured by Goose’s untimely passing. Other than this, his struggles in the sequel are largely superficial. Maverick’s story ends so happily that many have theorized Top Gun: Maverick is a dying man’s fantasy.
How Top Gun 2 Changes If The Original Movie’s Grave Scene Wasn’t Cut
Top Gun has a cheery, optimistic ending, but the movie never confirms that Maverick forgave himself for Goose’s death and moved on. Fast-forward to the sequel and this is his defining character trait, with regret replacing ego as the flaw holding him back until finally forgiving himself in Top Gun: Maverick‘s ending. Maverick is a near-flawless pilot in the sequel, so it could have been deeply boring to watch a peerlessly confident hero easily defeat the villains. However, the sequel keeps its plot tense and intriguing when Maverick encounters Rooster and has to face his past. Top Gun: Maverick proves that Top Gun’s hero was still running from himself, and this plot worked thanks to one cut scene.
