Top Gun: Maverick was a massive success for the Top Gun franchise and Tom Cruise, but Top Gun 3 might be drastically different for various reasons.
After the incredible success of Top Gun: Maverick, it's not difficult to imagine Top Gun 3 getting cleared for takeoff, but it will probably be quite different if it gets made. Top Gun: Maverick saw Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) get pulled from being a celebrated test pilot to train new graduates in a special mission, the experience of 30 years as one of the Navy's most distinct aviators making him an ideal choice to shape the next generation. Despite not being one of the top brass, or even because of it, Maverick's risk-taking was ideally suited for a covert mission bombing an unsanctioned uranium plant.
Not only was the mission a success, but Maverick's journey continued by training Goose's son Rooster, and he was able to confront the ghosts of his past with dignity and grace. Whether it was Maverick's final mission in the Top Gun franchise or not, he was able to say goodbye to Iceman (Val Kilmer) and embark on a happy life with Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly). Maverick may have given up his need for speed, but there are still plenty of things to look forward to in a third Top Gun movie. It would just have to shake up the formula that made its predecessors so popular.
Despite their former rivalry, Iceman understood better than anyone else the merit of having Maverick as a wingman and a friend. Though Iceman may have followed the rules, he made it possible for someone like Maverick to do what needed to be done outside an official capacity. Without someone looking out for him and valuing his contribution, Maverick might not even be the same person in Top Gun 3, becoming more withdrawn and subdued as a result. Maverick losing not only a defender but one of the last vestiges of a bygone era of flying could turn him into a very different character that fans won't be comfortable rooting for.
For some fans, the only way Top Gun 3 can end Maverick's story is with his death. The film may jump forward in time, necessitating an offscreen death to move the plot along, or he could die in the line of fire, perhaps shot down by an enemy plane. If Maverick were to die in Top Gun 3, he would most likely go giving his utmost to protect one of his fellow pilots like Rooster because that's the sort of self-sacrificing person that Maverick was. It would be the only appropriate way to cement his storied legacy.
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