8 Top Gun Details That Prove Maverick Is Actually Dead In The 2022 Sequel

While Top Gun: Maverick’s dying dream fan theory might seem far-fetched, it makes a scary amount of sense upon a rewatch of the blockbuster sequel. On the surface of it, Top Gun: Maverick seems like a pretty straightforward action movie with an upbeat story. However, one fan theory suggests that the entire movie is the fantasy of Tom Cruise’s reckless antihero, Maverick, as he is dying. This edgy take is surprisingly convincing. The twist, borrowed from Ambrose Bierce’s seminal short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” posits that Maverick didn’t survive his Mach 10 ejection in the opening sequence. Thus, everything after that is part of his dying dream.