Tom Cruise surprises Comic Con with release of trailer for Top Gun sequel Maverick
"Top Gun" roared back on Thursday when Tom Cruise made a surprise appearance at Comic-Con to show the first trailer for the long-awaited sequel to his military action movie.
Top Gun: Maverick - set to be released 34 years after the 1986 original - sees Cruise reprising his role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.
In the new film, Maverick is a flight instructor at the Top Gun school and guides the son of Goose from the original film to be the pilot his father was.
Cruise was met with rapturous applause during a surprise appearance at San Diego Comic Con, the annual pop culture convention.
He was introduced to the stage inside the famous Hall H by US comic Conan O'Brien, and reminisced about filming the original Top Gun in the city in 1986.
Cruise, 57, said: "I was always asked 'When are you going to do another one?' Well, you've been very patient with me. I felt like it was my responsibility to really deliver for you."
The trailer opens with Ed Harris's character, a high-ranking military official, telling Cruise's pilot he is a "dinosaur" in the modern world of aviation.
The clip features action shots of Cruise behind the controls of a fighter jet, as well as him in his famous bomber jacket and aviator sunglasses.
The audience in the 8,000 seat room went wild for Cruise on Thursday afternoon. He closed out what had been billed only as a panel for "Terminator: Dark Fate."
Cruise says all the flying in the trailer is real and that "Top Gun: Maverick" is a love letter to aviation. They worked with the Navy for the film, which is currently in production.
He added: "To me, Top Gun is about competition."
Top Gun: Maverick is directed by Joseph Kosinski and stars Miles Teller as Goose's son.
Val Kilmer will reprise his role as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky in the sequel, which also stars Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman and Charles Parnell.
Top Gun: Maverick is set to be released in June 2020.
