Tom Cruise surprised Comic-Con on Thursday with a completely unannounced appearance in Hall H, where he introduced the first trailer for next summer’s “Top Gun: Maverick.”
The big surprise happened just after the end of the “Terminator: Dark Fate” panel, which kicked off the first day of SDCC 2019 in Hall H. As the lights went up, Conan O’Brien came out on stage to introduce Cruise to the shocked audience. Read more about that here.
After explaining what the sequel to his 1986 blockbuster means to him, and how important it was for him to “finally really deliver for you,” Cruise introduced the clip, which kicks off with dialogue by Ed Harris.
We quickly learn that Peter “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) is still a captain, despite the fact that, as Harris’ character puts it, he “should be at least a two-star admiral by now.”
From there we see Maverick flying a jet (and loving it), some scenes of naval personnel partying, and what looks like a hint at the rise of drones and what drone warfare means for the future of manned military flight.
“The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is headed to extinction,” Harris says.
“Maybe so sir,” says Maverick. “But not today.”
In addition to Cruise, the film also stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell and Lewis Pullman. Joseph Kosinski, who directed Cruise in “Oblivion,” takes over for Tony Scott.
Scott’s original action movie, which starred Cruise, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards and Kelly McGillis, followed the exploits of a U.S. Navy flight academy and its students. The sequel will follow Cruise’s Maverick, who is now a mentor to a new generation of U.S. Navy fighter pilots.
“Top Gun: Maverick” is being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer for Jerry Bruckheimer Films and David Ellison for Skydance. Cruise also serves as a producer.
The film is due in theaters June 26, 2020.
Watch the trailer above.