Top Gun 3’s potential Cyclone return gets a confident response from Jon Hamm, who mentions one important caveat. The first film made Tom Cruise a global superstar when it was released back in 1986, grossing $357 million worldwide. Over three decades later, Cruise triumphantly returned as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick, which soared to the box office stratosphere in the summer of 2022, grossing $1.49 billion. Along for the ride was Mad Men star Hamm as Beau “Cyclone” Simpson, Maverick’s stern superior officer.

Could Jon Hamm be Tom Cruise's nemesis in Top Gun: Maverick?

Another Top Gun sequel is now on the way, and Hamm sounds as though he’ll likely be back as Cyclone, exclusively telling Screen Rant that he hasn’t officially had any talks, while offering a reminder that the Tom Cruise-led movie is still a long way from getting off the runway. Check out his remarks below:

I have not had any official talks. I was very happy to hear that they’re gonna make another one. I think the response to the second one was — let’s be honest, the response to both of them has been pretty great, and I was very happy to be a part of the second one. I’m pretty good friends with Jerry Bruckheimer, so I’m sure if there’s plans for Cyclone to come back, I’ll hear about it sooner rather than later. But I know that these things take quite a long time to put together and realize in the way that people like Tom and people like Jerry Bruckheimer are very careful with putting those things together. Joe Kosinski did such an amazing job over the course of four years making that movie that if I hear, it probably won’t be anytime soon. [Chuckles] I don’t think they’re going to be lighting into production anytime soon, but I would certainly love to be back. That’d be great.

Top Gun 3’s Production Timeline Depends On Cruise

Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick

Hamm is right to remind audiences that Top Gun 3 is still a long way from taking flight. Joseph Kosinski and company indeed spent years getting Top Gun: Maverick off the ground, and then suffered through COVID-related release delays before finally dropping the film in theaters to massive box office response.

Moviegoers won’t have to wait 36 years between Top Gun movies like they did the first time, as the third movie is already confirmed, with Cruise coming back as Maverick alongside Miles Teller and Glen Powell. But Bruckheimer himself is preaching patience as regards the Top Gun 3 production timeline, telling ComicBook.com back in March:

It’s hard to tell. You don’t know, you really don’t know. You don’t know how they come together. You just don’t know. Because with Top Gun you have an actor who is iconic and brilliant. And how many movies he does before he does Top Gun, I can’t tell you.

Cruise is currently hard-at-work shooting the retitled Mission: Impossible 8, with an eye toward a May 25, 2025 release date. The actor is also attached to an upcoming Alejandro González Iñárritu project, and there have been rumors of the star finally making Edge of Tomorrow 2. If Cruise tackles all three projects before getting to Top Gun 3, production on the film may not begin until closer to 2030. It’s unlikely that Bruckheimer and company would consider moving on from Cruise and making Top Gun 3 without Maverick in the pilot’s seat, so the wait could be long indeed.