Japanese Flag Removed From Top Gun 2

Astute movie fans have noticed that the Japanese flag has disappeared from Tom Cruise’s flight jacket in the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick.  The flag of Taiwan has also been removed.

There’s a new Top Gun movie coming out. And Maverick is wearing the same leather jacket – only this time it’s Communist Party of China-approved, so the Japanese and Taiwanese flag patches are gone (screenshot on right is from the new trailer)… pic.twitter.com/gUxFNFNUKX

— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) July 19, 2019

Mark MacKinnon declared the mystery of Maverick’s jacket solved with the discovery that China’s Tencent Pictures is one of the main producers of Top Gun: Maverick.  We can therefore infer that the order came down the pipe to remove material objectionable to Chinese communists.

Obviously, China is a big market these days, this also will play a part.

It is not clear where the new movie is set, other than partially in the northern hemisphere.