Warning: Spoilers for the end of Top Gun: Maverick.While Hangman’s last-second rescue of Rooster and Maverick works as a triumphant finale in Top Gun: Maverick, the scene also doubles as an effective encapsulation of the movie’s main theme. The original Top Gun struggled with its ostensible message. After all, the classic Tom Cruise movie is theoretically about his character, the reckless test pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, overcoming his need for speed and learning to work as part of a team instead of being driven by his ego.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
While Maverick successfully works with his colleagues in the movie's thrilling finale, Top Gun still sees its troubled antihero save everyone thanks to his uniquely impressive flying prowess. The original Top Gun never fully disproves Maverick’s belief that he alone is the best and fastest pilot of the bunch and, while this might be inarguably accurate, it does somewhat dull the impact of that movie’s main theme. Fortunately, Top Gun: Maverick found a way to work around this without derailing the sequel’s high-octane action.
In the closing scenes of the Top Gun sequel, Maverick has been saved from enemy terrain by Miles Teller’s "Rooster," only for the pair to be accosted by enemy aircraft as they make a getaway. For a moment, it seems as if all hope is lost, but then Glen Powell’s lovably smug "Hangman" shows up and shoots down the attackers and saves Top Gun: Maverick’s heroes. In terms of storytelling and plot, it’s a clever payoff but, like Iceman’s last words to Maverick, this moment also serves to reaffirm the movie's central theme. Hangman constantly boasts about his flying skills, albeit in an egotistical manner, so his part in the climax both feels well-established and also reaffirms the importance of teamwork over individual heroism.
Top Gun: Maverick’s Ending Proves Teamwork Works
Rooster saving Maverick from certain death is proof that Tom Cruise’s character needed his colleagues, no matter how great he was at flying. Hangman’s arrival, however, proves that teamwork matters more than any individual pilot’s heroic contributions. This is something Maverick and his commanding officers repeatedly claimed but that his super-heroic flying prowess repeatedly disproved until the barnstorming final moments. While a central theme of the Top Gun sequel is the importance of working together toward a common goal, the fact that Maverick could almost single-handedly pull off the entire mission alone detracts from this idea. As such, the revelation that both Rooster and Maverick needed Hangman’s help serves as a perfectly timed reminder that their individual strengths can’t compete with the power of a team working together.
Hangman putting aside his rivalry with Rooster echoes Rooster putting aside his struggles with Maverick to save the mission’s leader when Maverick’s plane is shot down. The moments mirror each other so that Top Gun: Maverick’s ending, when taken as a whole, acts as a testament to the importance of teamwork. This could help the next Top Gun movie to downplay Tom Cruise’s character and allow Maverick to take on more of a mentor role, while also making the second movie feel more cohesive as a standalone story. Unlike its predecessor, the sequel doesn’t just talk a big game when it comes to teamwork. By imperiling its heroes and having them saved by a less central character, Top Gun: Maverick proves that this theme has a real impact on its plot.