Tom Cruise has returned to the big screen in retro-blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, which released across UK cinemas today.

The 59-year-old has reprised his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, 36 years after the original Top Gun was released.

But the absence of two stars from the original have left fans scratching their heads. Meg Ryan’s Carole Bradshaw is missing, along with Kelly McGillis, who played Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood.

Here’s what we know.

Why isn’t Kelly McGillis in Top Gun: Maverick?

Kelly McGillis, 64, told Entertainment Tonight in 2019 that, despite being Cruise’s love interest in the first film, she was never approached about returning for the reboot.

She told the American TV programme she no longer fits the expectation of how a Hollywood love lead should look.

“I’m old, and I’m fat, and I look age-appropriate for what my age is,” McGillis said.

Reflecting on how her life has progressed as she moved out of the film industry, she said: “It was very challenging for me to have any kind of sense of self or self-identity or real self-worth other than what I did for a living [as an actress].

“I think just my priorities in life changed.

“It wasn’t like a major decision that I made to leave, it was just that other things became more important… To me, my relationships to other people became far more important than my relationship to fame.”

Jennifer Connelly, who at 51, plays Cruise’s love interest in the sequel, released on Memorial Day weekend in the US.

What can we expect from the new Top Gun?

Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is back and is still feeling the need for speed. His bosses have him in their line of fire, but he remains the best navy test pilot around and commands respect from his flying colleagues.

There is a seemingly impossible mission to blow up an Iranian uranium enrichment plant and Maverick is dispatched to train up an elite team of graduates for the task.

Expect some breathtaking aerobatic displays which, judging by the critics and not entirely surprisingly, outstrip those of the original.

Geoffrey Macnab, writing in i , said “the aerial photography is every bit as spectacular as you would expect”.

The sequel, he adds, “defies cynicism and confirms Tom Cruise’s status as Hollywood’s ‘mission leader’ when it comes to blockbusters”.

Deadline Hollywood praised the film saying it “tops the original in every way imaginable” adding it is “an example of Hollywood filmmaking at its zenith”.

The original Top Gun was released on 16 May, 1986 and went on to become one of the most famous films of the 80s.

In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, deeming it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.