Tom Cruise set out to make the follow-up film to his beloved 1986 hit, he knew the success of the story would hinge on not only the storyline and motivations of his character, Pete «Maverick» Mitchell, but in the squadron of young, up-and-coming Navy pilots Maverick is tasked with leading through their near-impossible mission.«We had to find not only the actors that are correct for the roles, or just a great cast, which we have in there — each one of them are extraordinary, charismatic, each one very distinct,» Cruise said in an exclusive ET featurette from the set of the film. «We also, prior to [filming], I had to go look.