Jon Hamm hints his character might be Tom Cruise's nemesis in 'Top Gun: Maverick'

Watch: Top Gun: Maverick trailer

For one of the biggest action movies in the pipeline, the makers of Top Gun: Maverick have managed to keep their cards very close to their chests, plot-wise.

Little is known about how the action will play out with Tom Cruise's pilot-turned-instructor, other than he’s failed to live up to the expectations of those around him, and that Miles Teller is playing Lieutenant Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw, son of Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell's late pal Goose.

But Jon Hamm, who is playing a naval vice admiral with the call sign Cyclone, has revealed that he's going to be butting heads with Maverick.

In an interview with Men's Journal, the Mad Men star says that his character is 'tangentially related' to Viper, from the first movie.

Viper was the character played by Tom Skerritt, the Naval Commander Mike Metcalf, who despite Maverick's shortcomings, takes the young pilot under his wing because he flew with Maverick's father in Vietnam.

Read more: Tom Cruise’s most dangerous stunts

“It’s not so much of a father figure, the way Viper was to Tom,” says Hamm. “He’s air boss of the fighter wing. He has a lot of authority and responsibility.

“When that rubs up against Maverick, there’s friction, as you would guess. I provide the friction.”

The friction in the first movie came most notably from Maverick's rivalry with Val Kilmer's Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky, as well as with his superiors, like Michael Ironside's Rick 'Jester' Heatherly.

Kilmer is back for the sequel, being helmed by Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinksi, and is now a four-star admiral serving as the Chief of Naval Operations.

Read more: Everything you need to know about Top Gun: Maverick

Elsewhere, Jennifer Connelly plays Penny, a bar owner, single mother and daughter of a former admiral for whom Maverick falls, with Ed Harris playing Maverick's superior.

The movie was originally scheduled for release in July, 2019, but due to some of the complexity of the flying scenes was later shifted to June, 2020.

The coronavirus pandemic then shunted the movie further, and it's now not due out until 2 July, 2021.

Watch: Top Gun: Maverick featurette