It was announced at the beginning of June that Val Kilmer is set to reprise his role as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky in Top Gun 2: Maverick. But the usually outspoken actor did not come out and directly confirm the role until now. Val Kilmer took to social media to make the announcement while also teasing a return to the infamous volley ball scene from the first installment. Tom Cruise announced that production on the sequel had officially started back at the end of May after teasing the project for over a year. Fans of the original 1986 film were curious to see if Kilmer would be making his return for the sequel as well.

Val Kilmer officially announced his role in Top Gun 2 through his Facebook page. The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the actor was in talks to join up with Tom Cruisefor the sequel back in June, but the actor had yet to make a statement in regard to his return. It's been a little over a month since that announcement and now Kilmer is confirming the role. He had this to say.

"Fanfare to follow: but I'm officially in the sequel to TOPGUN. I so looking forward to working with Tom, Joe and Jerry, all such unique pros."

This is exciting news for fans who have been looking forward to Top Gun 2 since 1986. It also gives the movie a chance to possibly return to some key scenes and musical motifs. Kenny Loggins recently stated that he'll be re-recording the hit single "Danger Zone" from the original soundtrack for the sequel and a fan asked Val Kilmer if we can expect to see a throwback to the memorable volleyball scene from the 1986 film. Kilmer would not confirm nor deny the inclusion of the scene, and simply says, "I can't comment on the screenplay but we all know what we want to see!"

This is also great news for fans of Val Kilmer. The actor recently started talking about his battle with throat cancer after denying reports for a number of years. Kilmer is now cancer-free, but surgeries on his throat have taken their toll on the actor's voice and his tongue is often swollen. He appeared on former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones' radio show recently in Los Angeles and had a raspy slur that was at times hard to understand. However, Kilmer revealed that he was going through speech therapy and was confident about getting his voice back to where it used to be. Jones even admitted that Kilmer's voice had dramatically improved since the last time that they had spoken.

It's great to see Val Kilmer stepping up to take on the Top Gun 2 role. There were rumors that he and Tom Cruise did not get along while filming the first movie, which Kilmer has acknowledged in the past, but also downplayed. Whatever the case may be, it seems that the two actors were able to settle their differences in the 30-plus years since the original movie. While we wait for some pictures on the set of the Iceman, you can check out the confirmation of the role at Val Kilmer's Facebook page.