Tom Cruise’s Condition for Making Top Gun 3 Revealed

Glen Powell has pulled back the curtain just enough to make fans sit up. Not by promising dogfights or franchise bombast — but by naming the one condition Tom Cruise insists on before Top Gun 3 can move forward: it has to be better than Maverick.

Powell spoke to Esquire about the project, admitting he only knows the broad strokes and hasn’t read a script. Then he landed the line every fan will quote: Cruise won’t sign on unless he believes the next film can top Top Gun: Maverick. Short. Clear. Uncompromising. It’s a high bar. It’s also very Tom.

Cruise himself teased the sequel briefly on the Jennifer Hudson Show, in that way only he can — equal parts tease and authority. "Maverick will be in the film. There will be fighter jets. It's going to be great. We'll have great music. That's all I can say," he said, smiling around the edges. That’s enough to stoke imagination and nothing to spoil the reveal.

Behind the scenes, director Joseph Kosinski has suggested there is more story to tell. In early 2026 he described a "final journey" for Cruise’s character and confirmed Ehren Kruger — known for his work on F1 — was at the keyboard on the screenplay. Kosinski’s caveat? They’ll only make the film if the story earns it. Pretty sensible. Also practical. Also painfully cinematic.

Yet promise and logistics rarely share the same flight plan. Kosinski’s return is not locked in. The runaway success of F1: The Movie on Apple TV+ and packed commitments — including his involvement with a Miami Vice reboot starring Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler — have complicated scheduling. So while Top Gun 3 is on the runway, clearance to take off remains conditional.

That’s no small hurdle. Maverick wasn’t just a hit; it rewrote expectations. With a reported production budget near $177 million, Top Gun: Maverick soared to more than $1.4 billion worldwide. Critics loved it. Fans loved it more. Beating that feels almost impossible. And yet, if history is any guide, never bet against Cruise when he’s chasing bigger stakes and higher altitudes.

Since 2015 Cruise has leaned into sequels that raise the bar — riskier stunts, sharper storytelling, more adrenaline. The Mission: Impossible films are the clearest proof: sequels that outdo predecessors in spectacle and critical cachet. So why wouldn’t Top Gun follow that playbook? The franchise has momentum. The appetite is undeniable. The challenge is finding the right story to justify another leap.

Bottom line: Top Gun 3 will only happen when creators are convinced the script and vision can outshine Maverick. Until then, we watch the skies and wait for the call to arms.