Pete "Maverick" Mitchell

Actor Matthew Modine turned down the role of Pete Mitchell because he felt the film's pro-military stance went against his politics.^[1][2] The producers of Top Gun wanted Tom Cruise for the role after seeing him in Risky Business.^[3] He was offered the part while he was in London filming Legend, Cruise was reluctant to take the part but director Tony Scott's brother Ridley Scott convinced him to do so.^[4]

Cruise was paid between $12–14 million to reprise the role in Top Gun: Maverick,^[5] which was revised to over $100 million after his share of the film's box office gross.^[6]

Mitchell was born to naval aviator Duke Mitchell who died in aerial combat in Vietnam on November 5, 1965, and an unidentified mother.^[7] Maverick carries a photograph of himself with his father in his wallet. His father flew with Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf (Tom Skerritt), and that Viper and Duke were aboard the USS Oriskany before seeing Duke's F-4 Phantom II shot down.^[8]

Maverick is skilled in the use of a motorcycle, using a Kawasaki GPZ900R, also known as the Ninja 900.^[9]

In the sequel, Maverick also knows how to mechanically maintain and operate a P-51 Mustang.

In the 1986 film Top Gun, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, portrayed by Tom Cruise, is a young and charismatic naval aviator with a distinctive appearance. Maverick and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Lieutenant Junior Grade Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, stationed in the Indian Ocean aboard USS Enterprise, fly the F-14A Tomcat were they meet the Top Gun Commanding Officer, Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf. Before the first day of instruction, Maverick unsuccessfully approaches a woman at a bar. He learns the next day she is an astrophysicist and civilian Top Gun instructor, Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood. She becomes interested in Maverick upon learning of his inverted maneuver with a MiG-28. However, privately she admires his flying; they begin a romantic relationship. Maverick’s rival is Lieutenant Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, calls his behavior "foolish," "dangerous," and worse than the enemy, to which Maverick responds, "I am dangerous." Maverick and Iceman, the leading contenders for the Top Gun Trophy, chase an A-4 in Hop 31. The F-14 flies through Iceman's jet wash and suffers a flameout of both engines, going into an unrecoverable flat spin. Maverick and Goose eject, but Goose slams into the jettisoned aircraft canopy and is killed by the impact. He is guilt-ridden and considers quitting before seeking advice from Viper who flew with Maverick’s father. He is eventually given the choice of any assignment, Maverick chooses to return to Top Gun as an instructor. He and Charlie reunite at a bar in Miramar. The song “You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'” plays over the credits.

He is often seen wearing a leather G-1 military flight jacket, white T-shirt, blue 501 Levi Jeans, with cowboy boots, aviator sunglasses, and a flight suit, which adds to his iconic and rugged image as a fighter pilot. Maverick's appearance reflects the cool and rebellious nature of his character, making him one of the most recognizable figures in the film.

Thirty years after the events of the first film, Mitchell is a decorated test pilot whose repeated insubordination has kept him from flag rank. His style of clothing is similar to the previous film with the addition of a Sage-green CWU-36/P zip-up flight jacket with styled collar. Maverick's friend and former Top Gun rival Tom "Iceman" Kazansky (Val Kilmer), now Commander U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT), has assigned Maverick to the Top Gun school at NAS North Island. Maverick reunites with former girlfriend Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly), to whom he reveals that he promised Rooster's dying mother that Rooster would not become a pilot. Over the course of the film, Maverick shoots down two Su-57 enemy aircraft which, in addition to the three MiGs he shot down in the original, earn him the status of the US Navy's first F-14 flying ace.

The character was spoofed in the 1991 parody film Hot Shots!, in which the protagonist, Lieutenant Sean "Topper" Harley, played by Charlie Sheen, represents Maverick.^[10]

United States Navy pilot Dale Snodgrass was called "The Real Top Gun"^[11] or the real "Maverick"^[12][13]

With the release of Top Gun, the character has been credited as one of Cruise's most iconic roles and one of many that helped launch him into Hollywood stardom. Cruise's performance in Top Gun: Maverick received widespread critical acclaim, more so than the first film, with some reviewers saying it is one of the best of his career.^[14] Taksam Mukherjee of Firstpost wrote that Cruise "wants nothing less than our jaws on the floor. Proving that no amount of multiverse films or superstar cameos will replace the blood, sweat and adrenaline of an actor legitimately trying to push the boundaries of filmmaking. We can be rest assured that if it's a Tom Cruise film, he will not let us down."^[15]

Maverick is a central figure as an instructor at TOP GUN in Top Gun: Hard Lock, a combat flight simulator game, developed by Headstrong Games and published by 505 Games for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows in 2012.^[16]