Top Gun: Maverick marks the return of Tom Cruise as Captain Pete Mitchell over three decades after the first installment came out. This time, it seems that Maverick will not bow down to China for the time being, since Paramount has reversed its contentious decision to remove Taiwan’s flag-off Cruise‘s jacket. Two flag patches representing Taiwan and Japan seem to have been reinstated to their former positions on the back of the garment.
When the first teaser for Top Gun: Maverick was released in the summer of 2019, showcasing Maverick’s trademark leather jacket with significantly revised patches that weeded out the flags of Japan and Taiwan, this quickly stirred controversies. At the time, it seemed almost certain that the flags’ absence was due to China’s Tencent Pictures contributing nearly 12.5 percent of the film’s $170 million budget; however, the company ultimately withdrew from the deal due to presumed concerns that Top Gun’s pro-American messaging could make the Chinese Communist Party’s anger boil over.
The jacket is worn by Tom Cruise‘s Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as a memorial to his deceased father, who wore it while serving in the United States Navy. The garment had its first appearance on screen in the Top Gun picture from 1986.
Top Gun: Maverick‘s 2019 teaser showed a jacket with emblems that only vaguely resembled the original flags.
There has been no comment from Top Gun: Maverick‘s producers on the topic so far.
Check out a tweet from 2019 showing a screenshot of the garment with the flags removed:
