Top Gun 2 Theory: Why Maverick & Charlie Are No Longer Together

Why is Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) no longer with Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (Kelly McGillis) in Top Gun: Maverick? More than three decades ago, Tony Scott’s action drama movie for Paramount, Top Gun, hit the big screen. It’s a box office success, earning $356 million against a production budget of only $15 million. Over the years, it has become a cult classic with Cruise leading the way for a much-anticipated sequel, which seems to be focusing primarily on the fraught relations between Maverick and Goose’s son, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller). The hotshot pilot is returning, but it seems like so many things have changed in his life since fans last saw him — including his romantic partner.

In the 1986 movie, Maverick and Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards) are sent to TOPGUN, a Naval Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar, where the best Navy pilots train. Not long after they arrive, they meet Charlie, and Maverick is immediately smitten with her. Maverick and Charlie cross paths again later, and the former finds out that Charlie is an astrophysicist and a civilian Top Gun instructor at the academy. Despite Charlie’s initial hesitation to start a romance with her student, they eventually engage in a relationship. Goose’s tragic death and Charlie’s job pull them apart temporarily, with Top Gun ending with Maverick and Charlie reuniting back in Miramar.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like their romance worked out in the long run. As revealed in Top Gun: Maverick‘s trailers, Maverick is with a different love interest — Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly), a bar owner and single mother who is also the daughter of a former admiral. Not much is known about her thus far. While the original Top Gun had elements of romance, with Charlie and Maverick’s relationship adding to the frenetic narrative, it was never the sole focus of the film. After all, Top Gun has always been about the importance of individual perfection fueled by determination and obsessiveness, something that is reflected in Maverick’s choices throughout the original film’s narrative. For further context about Penny’s character, her name is mentioned in the original movie, although it’s unclear if they’re one and the same. Meanwhile, McGillis previously revealed that she was not asked to reprise her role in the sequel. Given all this, what may be the possible reasons for Maverick and Charlie to break up?

Looking back at Top Gun, while the pair seemed attracted to each other, there’s barely any foundation to their relationship. Aside from sharing several romantic moments, the pair didn’t really have a deeper sense of connection; because of this, they simply drifted apart when things got rough. This is explicitly shown during their final goodbye just after Goose died. Charlie had to hear the news that Maverick quit TOPGUN from Wolfman (Barry Tubb), while he had to learn that she’s going to Washington for a different job through hearsay. The scene highlights how they didn’t even consider their relationship before making big decisions about their respective futures. At the end of the day, both Maverick and Charlie seem to be fueled by their individual dreams and passions, pulled away in divergent directions by fate and choices that do not necessarily converge or overlap at any given point.

Moreover, it is also worth noting that while Top Gun ends with Maverick and Charlie reuniting, there’s no indication about what’s next for them. It’s unclear if Charlie’s back in town for good or she’s just there for a visit. As previously mentioned, their relationship wasn’t exactly built to last since they barely spent time with each other in the film. Given this, a long-distance affair may not be the best way to move forward, and chances are that neither was willing to give up their jobs just to be with each other. Apart from this, Maverick undergoes a hefty personal transformation by the end of Top Gun, as he is forced to learn the hard way that the value of teamwork and camaraderie trumps individual prowess, and the latter is rendered meaningless without the integrity required to stick together in the midst of danger.

Another potential reason for Maverick and Charlie’s separation may stem from the traumatizing death of Goose. Top Gun: Maverick will feature Maverick confronting his past, including the demise of his former RIO, evidenced by the inclusion of his son, Bradley Bradshaw, who blames Maverick for his father’s death on some conscious level. As seen in the trailers, Rooster does not trust his father’s friend — more likely because of what happened to his dad. It’s possible that having seen what happened to Goose’s family after his death, Maverick opted to live a life without his own family so as to spare them any heartache in case anything happened to him — something that he and Charlie might have disagreed about. Granted that he’s with Penny in the sequel, her kid isn’t his, which makes it easier for him to distance himself from the child.

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