Here's How Original 'Goose' Actor Felt About Top Gun: Maverick
The original Goose may not have been able to join in on the fun of Top Gun: Maverick, but he definitely gave it his wings.
Anthony Edwards played Goose, one of the most memorable roles in the original Top Gun.
Of course, as one of the more memorable aspects of that character was his tragic death, Anthony Edwards could not appear in Top Gun: Maverick. Instead, his character's legacy continued on-screen with Goose's son, Rooster (Miles Teller).
And while Edwards himself has no direct involvement in the sequel, he was invited to see it ahead of its official premiere, and offered it glowing praise.
"With something that successful, people had a certain feeling at the original one, and [the sequel] does exactly what it felt like seeing the first time, only more," Edwards said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. "So, as I said to Tom, mission accomplished. That's a lot of work that went into that, but it had the feel and it had the tone. It had what people wanted."
He added, jokingly: "It's the biggest movie that I'm in that I never had to show up for a day of work."
And how that could have happened?
Well, Tom Cruise's character Maverick returns in the sequel as a teacher for new recruits. And one of those recruits is above-mentioned Rooster, who comes with a grudge against his father's friend. The narrative goes into the details for the reasons of that grudge and eventually uses it to put the characters to the test.
Indeed, as we've mentioned before, the story of Rooster and his conflict with Maverick was the core of the movie's plot, and the idea of it was what convinced Tom Cruise to jump on board of a Top Gun sequel train in the first place, despite his general dislike of sequels.
So, Goose and his fate end up playing a pivotal role in Top Gun: Maverick, despite the character being long dead.
All in all, that's how a good sequel should be, honoring key parts of the original, and using them as a foundation for a new story. Anthony Edwards' praise certainly wasn't undeserved, given the massive success Top Gun: Maverick and its status of possibly the best blockbuster movie of 2022.