Strap in; grab your aviators; dust off the old motorcycle; turn up the Kenny Loggins (more on that below); whatever you need to do to get ready to read the Ringer staff’s instant reactions to the first trailer of Top Gun: Maverick, DO IT NOW.
1. What is your tweet-length review of the Top Gun: Maverick trailer?
Andrew Gruttadaro: WHO SAID SHAMELESS SEQUELS WERE BAD??!?!
Alan Siegel: The world’s shortest, oldest fighter pilot who also happens to have the best skin-care routine returns to shoot down bogeys and play beach football. Sure, why not?
Donnie Kwak: Needs. More. Loggins.
Miles Surrey: Please imagine a world where Twitter’s character count is closer to 1,500 characters: I’m a little disappointed, if we’re being honest. The original Top Gun achieved the perfect balance between fighter jets, homoerotic sporting activities, motorbikes, and Kenny Loggins. The Maverick trailer nearly deprived us of homoerotic beach sports—thank goodness we were saved by a very brief shot of shirtless Glen Powell—and completely deprived us of “Danger Zone.” Look how much better the trailer is when you add the Loggins! I have no doubts Maverick will be a home run, especially since Cruise has entered the stage of his career where he’s perpetually trying to kill himself for our entertainment, but on the merits of the trailer alone, Paramount can definitely do better.
That said, there are some positives. The film looks like a meta commentary on Cruise’s career, since Ed Harris is like “Dude you haven’t retired? Are you trying to die?” and the answer is: yes. And the fighter jet stuff looks absolutely metal. Take me to the danger zone—just actually use some damn “Danger Zone,” please!
Michael Baumann: I’m starting to worry that we won’t get an explanation for why the secretary of the Navy kept Maverick around a decade past mandatory retirement age.
2. Using a screenshot only, reveal your favorite part of the trailer.
Gruttadaro:
Schuster:
Siegel:
Kwak:
Baumann:
3. Are you concerned for Tom Cruise’s safety?
Baumann: Nah, man, he only does dangerous shit within sight of dozens of experts and medics. He’ll outlive us all.
Surrey: I am always concerned for the safety of Tom Cruise.
Schuster: Am I ever not? At this point, I feel like the danger of the Mission: Impossible stunts far outweighs Tom Cruise’s flying in a fighter jet, so my anxiety is relatively low. That said, he does ride a motorcycle without a helmet in this trailer, so I can’t fully feel secure.
Kwak: Never. In T.C. you should always trust.
Siegel: I’m more concerned for the safety of the other people on the set. Like Iceman said, he’s dangerous.
Gruttadaro: My guy is going to go with 5 G’s at his back and a camera in his face—that’s his choice, and I feel like he’s completely at peace with it.
4. Where is Miles Teller?
Gruttadaro: The first scene of Too Old to Die Young still hasn’t ended, right?
Baumann: Probably watching a Phillies game. He was the one who cursed at the Dodgers bench after Tuesday’s game—not Héctor Neris.
Surrey: Nicolas Winding Refn wouldn’t let him leave.
Schuster: Don’t know, don’t care—this is a Glen Powell stan account!
Siegel: Better question: Where is Val Kilmer?
