Val Kilmer's made a memorable appearance in Top Gun: Maverick, delivering a pleasant surprise for fans of the original film amid his cancer fight. On top of the return, it also provided a bit of a technological showcase due to Kilmer's struggles in recent years. Audiences loved seeing him reunite with Tom Cruise on the biggest screen possible and Cruise lauded him for the scene.
Despite requiring an AI process to create a voice for Kilmer, on screen showed Kilmer navigating that similar joyous feeling while stepping into old shoes. Kilmer spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the moment and revealed that filming with Cruise was like picking up with an old friend immediately on sight.
"It was like no time had passed at all," Kilmer told the outlet. "We blew a lot of takes laughing so much," he said. "It was really fun ... special." The 62-year-old also added that he didn't need much coaxing to join the sequel after Cruise phoned him before the sequel was confirmed. "Tom called me. I said yes immediately."
Kilmer also looked back on the original film and how the cast lived it up when the cameras weren't rolling. "We were all so young during the making of the first movie, but even then there was a special bond between us all," Kilmer continued. "Even after shooting we would laugh and dance the night away!"
Director Joseph Kosinski agreed that Kilmer needed to return as Iceman, meeting with the actor after he accepted to figure out the method for his addition to the story. The film has Kilmer suffering from throat cancer, mirroring his real-life struggles that affected his voice and weakened his ability to speak.
"Obviously [we] spent a lot of time on that scene, writing it, getting ready," Kosinski told EW. "I wasn't sure how it was going to work. ... It's a really beautiful scene. We shot it in Los Angeles in a really beautiful house up on a park. Very special to see not only Val and Tom, but Maverick and Iceman back on the screen together."
Interestingly enough, Kilmer initially didn't want to be part of Top Gun. As he revealed in his 2020 memoir, Kilmer turned down the part in the 1986 film and required the influence of director Tony Scott to bring him around. Considering the praise the sequel has received and the lasting legacy of the original film, changing his mind was the right decision.