There hasn't been an announcement for a third Top Gun movie yet, but people think they've already spotted who the villain will be.
Top Gun: Maverick has been an impressive return to cinema screens for Tom Cruise in the highly successful sequel to the 1986 movie.
Raking in a fortune at the box office and garnering rave reviews from critics, it's hard not to think discussions are already underway for a potential third movie.
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Considering the success of Top Gun: Maverick, bosses probably reckon they'd be onto a sure thing if Cruise and the new cast of pilots were to return a couple of years later.
Not to mention the new audiences the sequel has brought in who were too young for the original Top Gun but would be hyped for a sequel thanks to Maverick.
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If that happens fans are sure they already know who the movie villain would be - and apparently it's going to be Rear Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain, played by Ed Harris, according to Screen Rant.
He only shows up at the start of the movie and drops out entirely once the focus shifts more onto Maverick's story, but he could be just the villain a third movie needs.
Cain's belief that the US Navy will eventually get rid of pilots makes him the perfect foil to Maverick's idea that the right pilot can make all the difference in the world.
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It's a perfect, ready-made dilemma between the villain who wants to get rid of pilots and our protagonist who proves why the Maverick streak at the controls is still needed.
Besides, would the movie have cast Ed Harris in such a role if they weren't going to use him for anything beyond a small role at the beginning of the movie?
Plenty of films released these days have an eye on threads which could be picked up in potential sequels yet to be greenlit by the studio.
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Then again, there's merit in knowing when to let a good thing end and Top Gun: Maverick gave Cruise's character Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell some strong personal closure.
However, the door is open to the character returning and it's hard to think they wouldn't try to bring Cruise back for any potential sequel.
Even if the movie megastar didn't come back for a third film there are plenty of other pilots to focus on for another potential Top Gun sequel.
Training the next generation in Top Gun: Maverick means a new roster of characters could step in to pick up the action if studios ever decide to greenlight another film.
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Topics: Tom Cruise, Film and TV
Joe Harker