Maverick and Iceman Have the Best Relationship in the 'Top Gun' Films

Tom Cruise’s and Val Kilmer’s characters needed each other then and now.

1986’s Top Gun is remembered for many things, from the intense action of the flying sequences, the romance

the music, and the friendship between Maverick (Tom Cruise) and Goose (Anthony Edwards).

The most impactful part of the film that drives the narrative, however, leaving a lasting impression on fans

and examined again in this year's Top Gun: Maverick, is the relationship between Maverick and Iceman (Val Kilmer).

On the surface, the original Top Gun played out like so many other 80s films about the good guy

and the bully who butt heads, but in the end, are brought together and become friends.

Maverick and Iceman are both students at the U.S. Navy’s Fighter Weapons School in the Top Gun program

where aviators compete to see who is the best in the class.