Joseph Kosinski thrilled with Val Kilmer's Top Gun return

Joseph Kosinski is delighted that Val Kilmer is returning for 'Top Gun: Maverick'.

The 47-year-old director is helming the long-awaited sequel to 'Top Gun' and is thrilled that Kilmer is returning as Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky alongside Tom Cruise's Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell for the new movie.

Speaking to Total Film magazine, Joseph said: "That was a huge, huge get – having Val come back to play Iceman.

"To get to work with an actor of that calibre, to see the chemistry, the camaraderie between him and Tom, and to have those two characters reunite in this film, was a really special moment, and one of my favourite parts of the film."

Kosinski previously suggested that Cruise's alter ego hasn't changed much at all since the original 1986 flick.

The 'Tron: Legacy' director said: "In so many ways he's still the guy that we remember from the first 'Top Gun'.

"He keeps that old Ninja under a tarp in the hangar and still wears those Ray-Ban aviators. He's the best at what he does, and he's given his whole life to aviation."

The filmmaker added that Tom's character will have to "confront the past" in the new movie which sees him train Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw (Miles Teller) – the son of his late friend Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards).

Joseph explained: "But that has come as a personal cost, and Maverick has to confront some things from his past and reconcile with them.

"It's a rite-of-passage story, much like the first film was. But this is a man now at a different stage of life."