With the late filmmaker having passed before he could deliver the long-awaited follow-up, Top Gun: Maverick producer Christopher McQuarrie reveals an adorable tribute to original director Tony Scott. Tom Cruise returned to lead the long-awaited sequel, which saw Maverick tasked to train a fresh batch of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission to take out an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant, one of whom includes the son of his late radar intercept officer. Top Gun: Maverick scored widespread acclaim for staying truthful to the original, though one element may not have been picked up by audiences. One fan recently took to Twitter to ask Top Gun: Maverick's Christopher McQuarrie about the dog Theo that Maverick meets in the bar owned by Jennifer Connelly's Penny, namely whether it was Cruise's pet in real life. Though not indicating who actually owns the dog, the sequel producer revealed that the dog was meant as an adorable tribute to original director Tony Scott, being his favorite breed, while also including a nod to one of his own pets. See McQuarrie's post below: Related: Top Gun: Maverick New Cast & Returning Character Guide

Why Top Gun: Maverick Succeeds As A Legacy Sequel

Tom Cruise smiling as he speaks to the Top Gun officers in Top Gun: Maverick

Coming into its release, Top Gun: Maverick had a lot of hurdles to overcome, namely its near-40-year gap between it and its predecessor, and a high bar set by fans of the original Tom Cruise movie. With the sequel also having endured a number of delays throughout its development, and Paramount pushing the release back on Cruise's desire for a theatrical debut, expectations were mixed among even the most devoted of fans. Cruise's excitement regarding the film, and his partnering with acclaimed Mission: Impossible collaborator McQuarrie to co-write the script, left some hopeful Top Gun: Maverick would ultimately prove worth the wait.

Upon its debut earlier this year, Top Gun: Maverick surpassed expectations across the board, becoming Cruise's best-reviewed film to date, and his highest-grossing, netting nearly $1.5 billion at the box office. While the original film has a major fan following, the critical reception bar wasn't a high one for the sequel to surpass, but many were left shocked by it scoring a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 96 percent from critics. Though it borrowed much of its formula from the first movie, critics agreed Top Gun: Maverick ultimately outshone its predecessor with a better grip on character development, emotional stakes, and high-octane action sequences.

The ultimate reason Top Gun: Maverick succeeded as a legacy sequel was its ability to find the right reason to bring Cruise's titular character back to the screen. As easy as it could've been to pit Maverick against a variety of threats in the decades following the original Top Gun, actually giving him an emotional story necessitating growth from him made for a far more captivating stories for audiences, especially considering many had theorized Cruise's character would meet his end by the end of the film. Audiences can revisit the successful legacy sequel with Top Gun: Maverick currently on shelves on 4K Ultra-HD, Blu-ray and DVD, or wait for it to hit Paramount+ in time for the holidays on December 22.

Next: Top Gun 2’s Reviews Break A 20 Year StreakSource: Christopher McQuarrie/Twitter