Did everything we see in Top Gun: Maverick actually happen? Or was most of it actually a death dream that Tom Cruise’s character had right as his mind was disintegrating in the Darkstar?
I first learned about this theory from Bill Simmons’ Rewatchables podcast and an Alison Willmore piece over at Vulture. While my first reaction was to reject it as silly…I think it’s actually possible to read the film this way! In the above video, I break down the case for this theory.