Top Gun: Maverick Removes Japanese and Taiwanese Flags from Tom Cruise’s Jacket
John F. Trent
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The latest trailer for Tom Cruise’s upcoming Top Gun: Maverick film revealed that two patches from Cruise’s iconic bomber jacket have been removed.
The two patches which featured both the Japanese and Taiwanese flags no longer appear on Maverick’s bomber jacket. Not only were the patches with the Japanese and Taiwanese flags removed, but the main patch in the middle of the jacket was also altered.
In the original film, the main patch read “Far East Cruise 63-4, USS Galveston.” As Military.com points out this patch commemorated “a real-life US battleship’s tour of Japan, Taiwan, and the Western Pacific.
Now the patch reads Indian Ocean Cruise 85-86.
It’s unclear why the patches have been removed from Maverick’s jacket in the latest trailer.
Fan speculation points to the fact that the film is attempting to appease Communist controlled China. Chinese technology giant Tencent and its subsidiary Tencent Pictures partnered with Paramount Pictures for the film as “an investor and co-marketer.”
There’s a new Top Gun movie coming out. And Maverick is wearing the same leather jacket – only this time it’s Communist Party of China-approved, so the Japanese and Taiwanese flag patches are gone (screenshot on right is from the new trailer)… pic.twitter.com/gUxFNFNUKX
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) July 19, 2019
So apparently Paramount has gave in to the Chinese authorities. In the upcoming Top Gun film Maverick’s leather jacket has been altered. The original version of the jacket, Maverick had a Japanese and Taiwan patch on the back of the jacket. It appears the patch has been replaced. pic.twitter.com/5So7wV0OS0
— Horror Town USA (@horrortownusa) July 23, 2019
However, a few astute fans of the original film note that the Indian Ocean Cruise patch could be in reference to Maverick’s tour in the original Top Gun film.
It’s not hard to imagine the Chinese gov’t wanting to scrub things like Japanese and Taiwanese flags. If so, the filmmakers may have engineered a crafty solution. The Maverick Patch 2.0 reads “INDIAN OCEAN CRUISE 85-86”–that’s the final scene of the 1986 Top Gun film. 3/ pic.twitter.com/8XAhQvc6gP
— Bryan S. Myrick (@BryanMyrick) July 20, 2019
While you are certainly correct about China’s push to change the narrative, I don’t think that’s the case in this instance with Top Gun. The patch in the original Top Gun is Maverick’s father’s patch. The patch in the new movie is a from Maverick’s cruise in the first movie.
— Audentes Fortuna Iuvat (@gumbeaux37) July 20, 2019
In fact, the original Top Gun film opens up with Maverick’s aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise patrolling the waters in the Indian Ocean.
Maverick returns to that ship in the final battle of the film.
What do you make of Maverick’s patches being changed for Top Gun: Maverick? Are you looking forward to Top Gun: Maverick?
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