Top Gun 2: Tom Cruise shares FIRST LOOK at long-awaited sequel

The 55-year-old action star has begun filming Top Gun: Maverick, which is set for release next summer.

Cruise took to his official Twitter account to share a picture of himself as Lt. Peter Mitchell once again.

The photograph shows the actor all geared up and facing a fighter jet, while sporting those classic aviators.

The picture is captioned: “Feel The Need.”

Cruise added, “#Day1”, implying that filming has now begun on Top Gun 2.

The film was confirmed last summer and will arrive over 30 years after the original’s release. Top Gun: Maverick sees Cruise reprise his role, but he’s now a flight instructor.

He’s joined this time by director Joseph Kosinski, who helmed Tron Legacy and Cruise’s Oblivion.

The filmmaker told Coming Soon the movie will explore Maverick’s time in the modern military.

He said: “The Navy is very different now than it was in 1986. Back then, they hadn’t been in any war for 15 or 20 years at that point.”

VAL KILMER WANTS TO RETURN FOR TOP GUN 2

The director added: “Now, here in 2017, the Navy’s been at war for 20 years.

“It’s just a different world now, so you can’t remake the first movie. It has to adapt.

“I certainly want to recreate the experience of that movie, which gives you a front-seat into the world of naval aviation and what it’s like to be in a fighter jet.”

Meanwhile on screenwriting duties are The Jungle Book’s Justin Marks and The Hunger Games’ Peter Craig.

On the sequel, Cruise said: “Stylistically it’s going to be same. Aviators are back. The need for speed.

“We’re going to have big, fast machines. It’s going to be a competition film, like the first one… but a progression for Maverick.”

Top Gun 2: Maverick hits UK cinemas on July 12, 2019.