Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell explains the heartwarming Tom Cruise Christmas tradition that he’s now a part of thanks to his role as Hangman. Released more than 35 years after Tony Scott’s original film, director Joseph Kosinski’s sequel sees Cruise’s hotshot pilot, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, training a new batch of recruits for a dangerous mission over enemy territory. Top Gun: Maverick was a hit with audiences and critics alike for its thrilling aerial combat sequences and the addition of new cast members like Powell, Miles Teller, Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman, and Jay Ellis.
After explaining that he almost passed on playing Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick until Cruise convinced him, Powell now reveals on an episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show that Cruise has now welcomed the star into his long-running Christmas tradition. As has become Hollywood legend, Cruise sends out a particular kind of bundt cake to various actors, producers, and directors that he’s become close to over the course of his long career. Check out Powell’s full comment below regarding Cruise’s tradition and how he celebrates having been added to the actor’s ever-growing list of cake recipients:
“It’s a very famous thing. If you’ve worked with Tom Cruise, or done a Tom Cruise movie you get this Tom Cruise cake and over the course of time it’s turned into this global operation where every Christmas he’ll send out, I don’t know how many, could be thousands, I have no idea how many cakes go out, but it’s the most delicious cake you’ve ever had. It’s like a coconut bundt cake. My friends that have tried it, they love it so much that they hit up right around December 1st, like ‘Hey, has it arrived yet?’ So now I have a party at my house where I’ll have the Cruise cake. It’s my Cruise Cake Party, and I’ll invite people over to try a bite or two of the Cruise cake.”
Could Tom Cruise & Glen Powell Reunite For Top Gun 3?
Despite the massive box office success of the recent sequel, it’s still unclear whether Cruise and the other new actors will return for Top Gun 3. According to reports, another film in the franchise is largely up to Cruise, and, considering the actor will have his hands full for the next few years with the Mission: Impossible franchise and his untitled space movie with director Doug Liman, it’s likely that news regarding the project won’t be coming anytime soon. That being said, Top Gun: Maverick‘s ending certainly leaves the door open for further adventures, and the film’s financial success and positive reception will mean Paramount will surely be interested in returning to the franchise in the next few years.
If a third film in the franchise does happen, it’s also possible that it could move forward with Cruise’s blessing but without his character, instead focusing on Top Gun: Maverick’s new characters like Rooster, Hangman, Phoenix, and Bob. After all, the recent sequel manages to give Maverick a powerful arc and a satisfying ending, suggesting it might be best to focus on the new naval aviators moving forward. If Maverick does return in a prospective Top Gun 3, however, it could be effective to see the character in more of a supporting role this time around akin to Val Kilmer’s Iceman, helping to guide Rooster and Hangman and the others during their times of need.
It remains to be seen if Top Gun 3 will ever happen, but the recent sequel manages to deliver pulse-pounding action and powerful emotional moments to create a movie that, for many fans, surpasses Scott’s original. The dynamic between Maverick and Rooster is the central focus in Top Gun: Maverick but a third film could more fully explore Cruise’s character’s relationship with Hangman and the other new pilots. While an additional sequel is very much up in the air, Powell can, at the very least, rest assured that he’ll be getting a delicious cake from Cruise every holiday season.
Source: The Jennifer Hudson Show