Penny, played by Jennifer Connelly, is not physically in the first "Top Gun" movie, but she does exist in it, though only mentioned in passing. She is never actually seen on screen.
Jennifer Connelly as Penny Benjamin
Penny and Maverick have had an on-again-off-again relationship for years, and we see their latest encounter in Top Gun: Maverick. Penny has a daughter named Amelia and owns a bar near Top Gun. Jennifer Connelly brings Penny Benjamin to life.
Penny owns a bar in proximity to the TOPGUN detachment's location and is a single mother to a daughter named Amelia Benjamin; Penny is presumably divorced, with Amelia mentioning that her father now lives in Hawaii with a different wife. Maverick runs into her when he goes back to TOPGUN to teach.
Penny Benjamin used to be Maverick's girlfriend, long before Maverick fell in love with Top Gun instructor Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood (portrayed by Kelly McGillis in the original Top Gun movie).
Penny Benjamin is introduced in Top Gun: Maverick as the owner and bartender at the bar popular with Top Gun and other military personnel. It is clear that she and Maverick have known each other for a long time. She is also a single mom to a teenage daughter, Amelia (Lyliana Wray).
The sequel — which was awarded best film by the National Board of Review — sees Maverick, now decades into his career, wooing a bar owner (and daughter of an admiral) named Penny Benjamin.
Is Penny Benjamin in the Original "Top Gun"? Penny, played by Jennifer Connelly, is not physically in the first "Top Gun" movie, but she does exist in it, though only mentioned in passing. She is never actually seen on screen.
In Top Gun: Maverick Penny owns a bar near the TOPGUN base and it is where the pilots often go to relax. It's at the bar that Maverick meets his former flame once again. She tells him not to "look at her" the way he is, because things always end the same and she suggests that this time they shouldn't start anything.
However, a popular theory explains who Hangman is and why Iceman wants Maverick to come back after all these years. The theory states that Rooster isn't the only son of a Top Gun alumni and that Top Gun: Maverick will ultimately unveil that Hangman is Iceman's son. On a surface level, this theory makes sense.
Before the final mission, Goose's son, Rooster is still furious at Maverick and angrily makes the point that it doesn't matter if Maverick comes back from the mission or not. After all, he's got no wife and kids to mourn him. Maverick takes these words to heart and promptly proposes to Penny.
Penny Benjamin, played by Jennifer Connelly, steps in to fill a difficult gap with her character in the much-anticipated “Top Gun” sequel.
Top Gun: Maverick's Penny Proves It Was Right Not To Bring Back Charlie - IMDb. Top Gun: Maverick didn't bring back Charlie Blackwood (Kelly McGillis), Pete's romantic partner in Top Gun, and instead introduced the character of Penny. Though surprising, the change was ultimately better for the film.
Top Gun: Maverick doesn't give many details on Penny's past, only mentioning that she is no longer married, which could mean anything. However, given her proximity to the Topgun program, it wouldn't be surprising if Top Gun: Maverick's Penny Benjamin was married to someone that Maverick knows.
Penny is Maverick's on-again, off-again love in Top Gun: Maverick. While in the first film he was romantically involved with Charlie, a civilian liaison at the Top Gun Fighter School, he's since moved on decades later. Now, he's linked to Penny, a divorced single mom who owns a bar near the Top Gun school.
While McGillis implied to Entertainment Tonight in 2019 (when production on Top Gun: Maverick was underway) that aging is why she wasn't asked back, director Joseph Kosinski told Insider that McGillis and Ryan aren't part of the sequel because of how their characters would impact the new stories.
Kelly appears as Sarah Kazansky - wife of Val Kilmer's character Tom "Iceman" Kazansky - in the 2022 action drama movie Top Gun: Maverick.
While Maverick cannot help but feel protective of Rooster because of his traumatic history with his father, Rooster brawls his self-inflicted limitations to prove his worth as a pilot. Meanwhile, Hangman oozes unmatched confidence, but his cockiness holds him back from being a team player.
Among Maverick's (Tom Cruise) trainees is a sly, charismatic pilot nicknamed “Hangman” (Glen Powell). Hangman essentially fills the same role that Iceman did in the original film; he picks on Rooster (Miles Teller), adding a sense of competition to Maverick's selection process. Hangman isn't just a duplicate of Iceman.
Hangman flies like Maverick and acts like Iceman on the ground. He is cocky, amazing flyer, doesn't cover his wingman just like Maverick, and was Ready 5 on carrier just like Maverick in first movie.
Maverick & Penny Get A Happy Ending
Yet Penny also recognized that Captain "Maverick" Mitchell had matured and that he still wanted to give something back to Top Gun because he was far from done as a fighter pilot.
Instead, Jennifer Connelly replaced McGillis as the new love interest in Top Gun: Maverick: Penny Benjamin, who, as it turns out, is really the only other viable option for the part. The character has appeared in Maverick's life before the smash-hit sequel.
Penny & Maverick's Romance Explained
The revised version of Penny and Maverick's romance sees the two involved in a questionable relationship, with the two occasionally getting back together before breaking apart a short time later.
As a result of rounds of chemotherapy and two tracheotomies — a procedure that allows one to breathe without nose or mouth — Kilmer lost the ability to speak clearly. In 2021, through the use of AI technology, his voice was able to be recreated with archival audio.
Despite Jennifer Connolly's Top Gun role only existing in the sequel, the actor used that brief mention of Penny in the original to help craft her character.
However, Top Gun: Maverick doesn't reveal exactly how Maverick met Hondo. Hondo wasn't in the original Top Gun film making it more curious how he first came across Mitchell.