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The actor who played “Wolfman” in the original. Top gun is suing Paramount Pictures for what it claims is the unauthorized use of its likeness in the 2022 sequel.
Barry Tubb, the actor who played Leonard “Wolfman” Wolfe in the 1986 film. Top gunfiled a complaint Wednesday in a California court.
Tubb claims that any permission to use his image “did not include the use of his image in the sequel,” the hit film. Top Gun: Maverick.
The scene that sparked the objection features an old photo of Iceman (Val Kilmer), Goose (Anthony Edwards), Maverick (Tom Cruise), and Wolfman.
The lawsuit claims that the image is “a four-shot close-up that clearly establishes the plaintiff” and that “(Tubb’s) likeness in the scene is essential in a manner that is not incidental.” The documents allege that the photo is actually an altered version of a behind-the-scenes shot of the original actors, and therefore the alterations “destroyed any purported copyright” of the image.
Deadline has contacted Paramount for comment. Paramount did not immediately respond.
Tubb’s lawsuit claims that the studio “never sought consent or authority to use plaintiff’s image for any purpose in Top Gun: Maverick and the original contract signed by the plaintiff and Paramount did not contemplate the use of his image beyond the original Top gun or in promotions related to Top Gun: Maverick; a sequel not contemplated at the time of the original contract and that will not be released until 2022, almost four decades after the original Top gun.”
Tubb seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and demands a jury trial.