"Talk to me, Goose" isn't the only phrase to show up in "Top Gun: Maverick" that's repeated from the original film. Another Goose-related statement that makes a reappearance is when Rooster asks Maverick to "do some of that pilot s***" to get them out of a tight spot. But a lot of the shadows and echoes of the original film to be found in the sequel are repeated scenarios and camera shots.
When Phoenix (Monica Barbaro) and Bob (Lewis Pullman) are forced to eject following a bird strike, the next shot shows Rooster sitting with his head down in a dark room. It evokes the scene following Goose's death, when Maverick is filmed in this same way, only this time Phoenix and Bob are fortunately uninjured.
The references aren't just to somber moments, however, as the pilots are faced with the same awkward first day when an unexpected instructor arrives. In "Top Gun," this is Maverick and Goose seeing Charlie after the serenade scene. In "Top Gun: Maverick," this is Hangman (Glen Powell) and Coyote (Greg Tarzan Davis) after throwing Maverick out of Penny's bar the night before.
Penny is another source of deja vu, talking about Maverick having his tail on fire (as opposed to his hair, per Charlie in "Top Gun"). When Penny shows up to reconnect with Maverick at the movie's end, she's standing against her Porsche, recreating another image from "Top Gun" between Charlie and Maverick. These subtle inclusions connect the films subliminally as well as literally, and bond them together tighter in our minds.
