‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Set Photos Reveal Tom Cruise’s Fighter Jet

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(Photo: Paramount Pictures screengrab)

New photos from the set of Top Gun: Maverick suggest that Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell might find himself in the cockpit of a stealth jet. 

Images that leaked in September showed that Mav had upgraded from the 80s-era F-14 Tomcat he flew in the original movie to an F/A-18F Super Hornet. 

Paramount recently confirmed that Cruise, who’s a licensed pilot, will indeed fly for the film. But, as Task and Purpose notes, not even a blockbuster actor with a penchant for performing his own stunts is allowed to fly a Hornet. 

Based on new images of Cruise sporting a blacked-out flight suit that originally appeared on The Hollywood Pipeline, it looks like his real-life ride could be a stealthy reconnaissance aircraft. 

The Aviationist has further details: 

The interesting thing is that the flight suit appears to be a high-altitude pressure suit similar to the actual ones worn by high altitude reconnaissance pilots in aircraft like the U-2 and SR-71.

Notice the wide, round neck ring for a pressure suit helmet and the two fittings to the suit for life support and pressurization.

The military aviation-minded outlet examined the pair of pics in detail and says that Cruise may have been shooting an ejection sequence. 

Cruise appears to have make-up on and weathering to his high-altitude pressure suit that recall several scenes from previous aviation movies like The Right Stuff where a pilot has ejected from an aircraft.

Cruise looks slightly “singed” in his costume and make-up, as if he survived ejection from an aircraft mishap in the plot of the story.

We’ll find out what Mav takes into the “Danger Zone” when Top Gun: Maverick takes off on June 26, 2020. 

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