Fans of the original 1986 hit long imagined the moment Top Gun: Maverick would arrive in cinemas, and they even followed the playful wager that journalist Matt Patches made back in 2010: he swore he would eat his shoe if the sequel ever saw the light. The moment finally came, and the promise took on a life of its own, becoming a quirky rite of passage for fans and a reminder that internet bets rarely stay buried for long.
Patches later chronicled a curious escalation of that bet into a full 20-minute video as he prepared to eat what could be described as an edible homage to a boat. For twelve years the tweet endured as a meme, and life happened in between: the journalist married, started a family, and watched the joke evolve with the digital era. His wife, mindful of preventing real shoe consumption, urged him to craft an edible replica instead. The result involved fruit purée, edible glue, and careful detailing to mimic the original footwear with recognizable accuracy.
In a bold twist of commitment, he finally consumed the edible shoes after making a dramatic reveal on the street. It’s notable that Paramount Pictures had sent a boat-shaped cake to celebrate the film’s premiere, a gesture some fans might have expected him to accept as the easier option. Yet Patches chose the more arduous route, perhaps because the spectacle mattered as much as the outcome. The memory lingers not just as a stunt, but as a moment that captures the absurdity and risk of chasing an internet dare.
Even with the undeniable success of the sequel, there remains skepticism about a potential Top Gun 3. The stance is cautious, and the notion of embracing a new chapter is weighed with caution. If a third installment ever arrives, there’s a playful vow not to repeat such a stunt, signaling a shift from public spectacle to measured storytelling. The episode stands as a reminder that online mistakes can be acknowledged, and that the internet occasionally invites players to adopt the role of the fool without losing perspective.
— Matte Patches
Attention remains a constant in the online world, where fan culture and media events collide with personal narratives and viral moments. The Top Gun saga, with its blend of nostalgia and contemporary humor, continues to provoke conversation about how far fans will go to celebrate and how far creators will let the story unfold in public.