A potential sequel to Top Gun: Maverick is still in development, according to star Jay Ellis.
“So here’s what the story’s going to be. It’s going to be payback. No, no [I’m kidding],” Ellis, 43, jokingly told Us Weekly exclusively at the 2025 Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California, on Saturday, February 22. “In all honesty, they’re still working on the script. They’re still working on the story. They’re wanting to get it right.”
Ellis portrayed Reuben “Payback” Fitch in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, which was based on the original 1986 film with Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. In Maverick, Cruise’s titular character showed Ellis, Miles Teller, Glen Powell and more the aviation ropes.
The latest film, which Cruise produced, was a critical success and prompted fan enthusiasm about a potential Top Gun 3.
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“You know, Tom is a stickler, and that really comes from him wanting to make sure the audience gets what they paid for and that they’re entertained,” Ellis told Us on Saturday. “[So] that for those two hours, they can fully disappear in this theater, and the world around them doesn’t exist anymore, and [be] fully entertained. That’s where the focus is.”
According to Ellis, Top Gun 3 would also need to enhance the story lines already explored in the first two films.
“[It’s also about] really making sure that this story is not done just to make a movie, but made because these characters are going to make people lean in,” he said.
While Ellis — just like Us — waits for more news about a Top Gun sequel, he has stayed booked and busy, recently filming Peacock’s All Her Fault miniseries. (A specific premiere date has not been announced.)
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“All Her Fault‘s a lot of fun. I’m very excited for that. Sarah Snook is the boss on that one. Sarah Snook is, obviously, the lead of that show [and] what a great cast. It’s Michael Peña, Dakota Fanning, Abby Elliott [and] myself,” Ellis gushed. “It is … based on a book. You’re going to be, like, your fists are going to hurt so much. Your hands are going to be balled up in anxiety so much for this show. It was fun. We got to shoot it in Australia, which was really cool. Such a great thrilling, like, heart-pounding [show].”
He added, “It’s one of those things where it’s kind of, like, the Spider-Man meme. Everybody’s pointing … at each other like, ‘You did it.’ It’s a lot of fun.”
With reporting by Mariel Turner
