Top Gun: Maverick is already stirring some controversy
The first trailer for sequel Top Gun: Maverick only debuted last week, but it's already attracting controversy for one specific thing.
Starring Tom Cruise in the title role – a reprisal of his beloved 1986 character Peter 'Maverick' Mitchell – alongside franchise newbies Miles Teller, Jon Hamm and Snowpiercer's Jennifer Connelly, Maverick will see him mentor new pilots, including old friend Goose's son.
The movie also welcomes back Val Kilmer as Maverick's great rival, Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky. (However he doesn't appear in the trailer – an omission that has caused a lot of raised eyebrows).
Related: Exclusive: Top Gun 2 footage left Jon Hamm with his "chin on the ground"
As many followers of the long-awaited sequel unpacked the trailer, journalist Mark MacKinnon noticed something different about Maverick's jacket.
There’s a new Top Gun movie coming out. And Maverick is wearing the same leather jacket - only this time it’s Communist Party of China-approved, so the Japanese and Taiwanese flag patches are gone (screenshot on right is from the new trailer)... pic.twitter.com/gUxFNFNUKX
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) July 19, 2019
He wrote on Twitter: "There's a new Top Gun movie coming out. And Maverick is wearing the same leather jacket – only this time it's Communist Party of China-approved, so the Japanese and Taiwanese flag patches are gone (screenshot on right is from the new trailer)..."
MacKinnon later added: ""Mystery" solved. China's Tencent Pictures is one of the main producers of Top Gun Maverick".
However, this flag switch seems to have no underlying message, according to ex-navy pilot Ward Carroll.
The patch assortment on flight suits and jackets in the Top Gun franchise has always been a running joke (among running jokes) for those in the #NavyAir business. They are random in where they are placed and commands they represent. Seek no meaning because there is none.
— Ward Carroll (@wardcarroll) July 19, 2019
Carroll soon shot down MacKinnon's analysis with: "The patch assortment on flight suits and jackets in the Top Gun franchise has always been a running joke (among running jokes) for those in the #NavyAir business.
"They are random in where they are placed and commands they represent. Seek no meaning because there is none."
That's that sorted, then.
Top Gun: Maverick will open in cinemas on June 26, 2020 in the US and July 17, 2020 in the UK.
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