Two more big names have joined the cast of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

If the mere existence of a sequel to Top Gun wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, the cast members announced for the film ought to do the trick.

More than 30 years have passed since the Tom Cruise classic, and the 56-year-old actor is back as the title character in Top Gun: Maverick along with returning co-star Val Kilmer.

However, the pair are being joined by a whole host of big names who weren’t involved in the original – including one, Miles Teller, who wasn’t even born when Top Gun was released in 1986.

And the cast announcements just keep coming, with distributors Paramount Pictures confirming three more additions to what’s already shaping up to be one of the stand-out films on the 2019 calendar.

Jon Hamm and Ed Harris are the latest cast members to be announced,Variety reports, though we’re yet to learn the roles each of the pair will play.

Mad Men star Hamm has a busy few months ahead of him, having also joined the cast of Drew Goddard’s Bad Times at the El Royale with Chris Hemsworth.

Lewis Pullman, the son of actor Bill Pullman, will also feature in both Top Gun: Maverick and Goddard’s film. The 25-year-old’s most recent role came in Johannes Roberts’ horror The Slashers: Prey at Night.

Harris, meanwhile, has been busy with his lead role in Westworld. The four-time Academy Award nominee has not been seen on the big screen since 2017’s Geostorm.

The film will see Cruise’s character Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell – a fighter pilot in the original Top Gun – serving as a flying instructor in charge of a group of young students. Teller’s character, Bradley Bradshaw, is the son of the character ‘Goose’ from the original.

Top Gun: Maverick will be released in July 2019, with the cast also including Jennifer Connelly, Glen Powell and Monica Barbaro.

Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy) is attached as director; Tony Scott, who directed Top Gun in 1986, sadly died in 2012.

(Images: Rex/Getty)