The reason Top Gun: Maverick was a cultural phenomenon is it managed to do what modern legacy sequels (think Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Terminator) failed at for years.
The movie didn't treat Maverick as some infallible god nor does it turn him into a broken loser.
He's still stubborn, reckless, but his flaws stem from his grief over Goose, not from some cynical corner of a writer's wet dream of writing Game of Thrones.
Maverick earns the respect of the younger pilots by demonstrating supreme skill, acting as their ultimate enabler.
The biggest piece of proof this was the goal is in the scene with Ice Man. They didn't recast or write him off screen. They brought in Val Kilmer and integrated his health issues, handling his character with incredible dignity. The conversation between Ice Man and Mav is the emotional anchor to the whole movie.
Top Gun: Maverick proves audience don't mind nostalgia bait or passing the torch as long as the characters they grew up loving are treated like they mattered.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) | Joseph Kosinski