Val Kilmer Will Reprise His Iconic ‘Iceman’ Role In ‘Top Gun 2’ Alongside Tom Cruise

Less than a week after Tom Cruise confirmed that the highly anticipated sequel to the 1986 classic Top Gun, Top Gun 2 had begun filming, the new production has added another cast member. According to The Hollywood Reporter, which confirmed a previous report, none other than the “Iceman” himself, Val Kilmer will reprise the iconic role that rivaled Cruise’s own in the popular action movie.

THR‘s story reiterated Cruise’s revelation from just over a year ago that the sequel’s official title is Top Gun: Maverick instead of Top Gun 2. As for the plot of the film, details are still being kept under wraps. Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion) have revealed that the story “follows fighter pilots dealing with a world in which drone technology is making their old style of flying obsolete.” Otherwise, that’s it.

Nobody outside of the production — let alone the writing process — even knows if Cruise’s Maverick or Kilmer’s Iceman will utter any of their famous phrases, like “I feel the need for speed” and “I don’t like you because you’re dangerous.” In fact, no one even knows if Iceman, real name Tom Kazansky, will still feel the same way about Maverick as he did at the end of the original, when he told him, “You can be my wingman anytime.”

Top Gun: Maverick is scheduled to land in theaters July 12th, 2019.