Already bowled over by an amazing morning with Terminator: Dark Fate stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and director Tim Miller, the crowd at San Diego Comic-Con’s Hall H was totally taken by surprise when none other than Tom Cruise emerged near the end of the Paramount Pictures panel, delighting fans as he introduced the first footage from a totally different (and high-flying) blockbuster franchise.

Introduced by Conan O’Brien (also a surprise appearance), Cruise walked onstage and teased the audience with, at first, a playfully cryptic update on the upcoming Tom Gun: Maverick. “34 years ago, I made a movie in San Diego,” Cruise said. “I shot across the street in a restaurant. And you've all asked, for many years: ‘When are you gonna do another one?’”

Well, apparently the answer to that rhetorical question was right now. Here’s the Top Gun: Maverick trailer — plus a look at the first official poster — just to prove it:

Why does Maverick keep chasing the adrenaline? “It’s one of life’s mysteries, sir,” he responds to a ranking officer played by Ed Harris. As the atmospheric and brooding trailer makes clear, the new movie catches up with Maverick three decades after the events of the first film, and it appears to be a super-focused look at what makes him tick.

“For 34 years you've been very patient with me, and I feel a responsibility to deliver for you,” Cruise said, extending a heartfelt shout-out to all the Top Gun (and Tom Cruise) fans who’ve long clamored for Paramount to ramp up its efforts on the sequel. They won’t have much longer to wait. Top Gun: Maverick heads back into the danger zone on June 26 of next year.

Click here for SYFY WIRE’s full coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2019, including up-to-the-minute news, exclusive interviews, and videos.