Summary Maverick’s romantic subplot with Penny in Top Gun 3 is critical to his character development.
Breaking up Maverick and Penny for a new romantic subplot would be unnecessary and bleak.
Rooster could become the focus of Top Gun 3’s romantic storyline, enhancing his character.
While Top Gun 3 can’t include another romantic subplot for Maverick thanks to Top Gun: Maverick, this could be a good thing for the franchise. The Top Gun series bounces between a variety of genres. On the face of it, these two movies about a Navy test pilot’s career and his struggles with the institution’s top brass seem like military dramas. However, Top Gun and its sequel largely ignore the realities of war, international politics, and even basic facts about the Navy itself, which does not really hold classes in empty aircraft hangars or offer trophies for their fastest pilots.
In this regard, the Top Gun franchise borrows more from sports movies than it does from war movies. Top Gun: Maverick’s triumphant ending, wherein the scrappy underdogs Rooster and Maverick somehow outmaneuvered fifth-generation fighters in a busted-up Tomcat, owes more to The Karate Kid than the likes of Full Metal Jacket. However, both Top Gun movies also incorporate romantic subplots into their storylines. In 1986’s Top Gun, Maverick fell for his instructor Charlie during his time in aviation training, while Top Gun: Maverick saw the older, wiser Maverick rekindle an old romance with an ex named Penny Benjamin.
Related 8 Planes That We Could See In Top Gun 3 Top Gun 3 will have to up the ante from Top Gun: Maverick’s collection of fighter jets, but the series still has new heights to explore.
Top Gun: Maverick’s Penny Story Makes A New Sequel Romance Pointless
Maverick and Penny’s romance needs to survive in Top Gun 3
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Breaking up Maverick and Penny to give Maverick a new romantic subplot in Top Gun 3 would be unnecessary and unintentionally bleak.
The upcoming sequel Top Gun 3 can’t have a new romantic subplot for Maverick since his current relationship with Penny was pivotal to his character arc. In Top Gun: Maverick, Maverick ended up happy with Penny after Penny’s daughter literally warned him not to leave her again earlier in the sequel. Since there won’t be another multi-decade gap between Top Gun: Maverick and its upcoming sequel Top Gun 3, there will not be enough time between sequels to justify their relationship ending. Moreover, Penny and Maverick’s committed romance seemed like proof that Tom Cruise’s antihero was finally growing up.
Breaking up Maverick and Penny to give Maverick a new romantic subplot in Top Gun 3 would be unnecessary and unintentionally bleak. Maverick had already lost one of his closest friends with the death of Iceman, so the sequel revealing that things didn’t work out with Penny would amount to kicking the bereaved character while he is down. It was understandable Maverick and Charlie’s romance petered out off-screen between movies since there was a thirty-six-year gap between Top Gun and its sequel. However, Top Gun: Maverick seemingly left Maverick in a stable, happy place, something he shouldn’t squander.
Top Gun 3’s Romantic Subplot Can Focus on Rooster
Top Gun: Maverick’s sequel can make Miles Teller’s characters its hero
If Top Gun 3’s story doesn’t break up Penny and Maverick, the sequel could instead feature a new romantic subplot for Miles Teller’s Top Gun: Maverick supporting star Rooster. Goose’s son could be subtly positioned as the next protagonist of the series if Top Gun 3 were to center his love life as its romantic subplot, and this would also give Maverick a chance to move into more of a mentor role. Rooster already had chemistry with Monica Barbaro’s Phoenix in Top Gun: Maverick and Top Gun 3 giving him a romantic storyline would flesh out his character further.
Although Rooster was a compelling presence in Top Gun: Maverick, it was tough to deny that he mostly existed as part of Maverick’s story. It was Maverick’s struggle to come to terms with Goose’s death that shaped Rooster’s role in the sequel, meaning Rooster himself didn’t get as much independent character development. Top Gun 3’s sequel story can change this by illustrating Rooster’s life outside of work, and a romantic subplot would be an ideal way to achieve this. Rooster’s personal life is still something of a mystery, beyond viewers knowing that his parents died before Top Gun: Maverick.
Top Gun 3 Dropping Maverick’s Romance Subplot Is Good News
The Top Gun movies never excelled at focusing on Maverick’s love life
Top Gun ’s Charlie romance provided the original movie with many of its most cringe-worthy moments…
While Maverick’s relationships succeed in making his character feel more rounded, it is not necessarily a bad thing that Top Gun 3 can’t provide Maverick with a new love interest. In storytelling terms, these subplots are the weakest part of both movies. Top Gun’s Charlie romance provided the original movie with many of its most cringe-worthy moments, including an infamous sex scene that was added during re-shoots and is still frequently cited as one of the most unintentionally funny sex scenes ever.
Meanwhile, although Top Gun: Maverick avoided recreating the original Top Gun’s terrible sex scene, the movie still struggled to justify Penny’s screen time. Jennifer Connelly was as compelling as always and had great chemistry with Cruise, but the subplot where Maverick reunited with her, struggled with commitment, and then decided to stay with her felt unavoidably perfunctory. Penny’s role in the sequel never felt as important as it should have, and her subplot could have been excised without completely ruining the movie. Thus, Top Gun 3, featuring no new Maverick romance, could be a good thing.
Top Gun 3 Must Change A Franchise Trend (Thanks To Maverick’s Ending)
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