Powell does Iceman-dipped-in-honey as the cocky but charming Lt. Jake "Hangman" Seresin, a character he collaborated on with Tom Cruise in order to get the notes right.
"I can't top what Val did in the first one," Powell told USA Today. "I tried to make Hangman stand on his own. That just comes with growing up in Texas."
Having previously played astronaut John Glenn in Hidden Figures and after zooming through the skies in real F-18s, the actor decided to lean into this whole pilot thing, getting his certification with Cruise's help.
"So I get my pilot's license, I get to sign the whole thing and they're like, 'You're a private pilot'—Tom had a thing waiting for me," Powell told E! News. "It was a note that said, 'Welcome to the skies,' and it was a certificate for stunt driving lessons."
In case his need for speed had yet to be fulfilled.