LOL FOREVER. And with affection. Because, come on, isn’t this what you want from Tom Cruise?

Remember last year when James Corden told that story about Tom Cruise texting him because he’salways looking for places to land his helicopter?! Tom Cruise and his chopper have become inseparable in the culture. This is his preferred method of travel. And that’s how he arrived at theTop Gun: Maverick首映in San Diego yesterday.

It goes without saying, but we should say it anyway, that he piloted the chopper and landed it himself. BECAUSE WHO ELSE WOULD DO IT?

As you can see, the chopper is tricked out with his name plastered all over it and the movie title which is, well, it’s pure Top Gun energy, the ultimate flex from the ultimate stunt king pulling the ultimate stunt queen move.

The move also serves as added emphasis for what audiences will be seeing when the movie comes out on May 27th – which is that Tom Cruise is really in the plane,as producer Jerry Bruckheimer told THR, “Every time you see him flying, that’s him in that jet”. And we’re not talking baby flying scenes either. I have seenTop Gun: Maverick,the aerial scenes are INTENSE, it’s the most high-action HIGH ACTION sh-t, and Tom Cruise is right there in the middle of it, for reals.

Since I can’t remember what the embargo deal is right now for the movie, here’s what I’ll limit myself to saying – have you heard about thereactions coming out of the screenings from last week? Big positivity, like apparently some people were crying from the experience, the swings in emotion, from nostalgia to high-octane excitement to the deep feels…

I saw it by myself in IMAX and it was still a party. The movie is FUN, and I know that’s not the most creative word to use here but it’s the one that’s most fitting because that’s what Tom Cruise, the Movie Star, has come to stand for. Movie night is supposed to be a good time. If it’s just one thing that Tom Cruise understands, or that defines his approach to movie-making, this would be it – he wants you to have a good time. AndTop Gun: Maverickis a really, really, REALLY good f-cking time.

Which, hilariously, you wouldn’t know if you were just going by Tom the other night onThe Late Late Show with James Cordenalongside co-star Monica Barbaro. This was Tom’s response when asked about Lady Gaga being part of the soundtrack:

Tom Cruise is bringing all this Tom Cruise Intensity to the answer because he wants you to know how much he admires Lady Gaga, artist to artist, which of course is beyond reproach. It’s just making me laugh how SERIOUS he is about it, and the way his energy makes it sound like he and Lady Gaga made a SERIOUS DRAMA movie…right? Like, of course, there are big emotional dramatic beats toTop Gun: Maverickbut it’s not a drama, LOL. Lighten up! But also, do NOT lighten up. Because all of this, from the chopper landing and the stunting to the intensity of these answers are all part of what makes Tom Cruise Tom Cruise.

And that’s also the intersection between Tom Cruise and Lady Gaga. Which I don’t think we appreciated until now, that the two are actually more similar than they are different. Because that’s Gaga’s thing too – she is extra, she is a stunt queen if there ever was one, and we’ve all seen over the last few years how seriously intense she gets about her movie-making. And also how deeply earnest she is when she’s talking about movie-making, just like him. It makes total sense that these two are kindred. Which is why I’ve been screaming over this tweet for two days.

But I do really, really like the song. And the song is really, really perfect for the movie. It fits both the Top Gun vibe and the Lady Gaga vibe. It’s giving 80s power ballad and Mother Monster melodrama. It is exactly the kind of song you want when fighter jets are flying through the sky and fists are being pumped and hearts are swelling and sweat is glistening and Tom Cruise is Tom Cruising, goddammit!

More onTop Gun: Maverickto come.