‘Hit Man’s’ Pilot Role Play Sex Scene Is Not a ‘Top Gun’ Reference, Richard Linklater Says: “We Just Thought That Was Funny”

Glen Powell is following up his steamy Anyone But You sex scene with another hot—yet very silly—sex scene, this time with co-star Adria Arjona in his new Netflix movie, Hit Man. And this time, it’s pilot-related. Between this, Top Gun, and The Blue Angels, we’re starting to wonder just how deep Powell’s love for planes runs.

Hit Man, which began streaming on Netflix today, is based on the true story of Gary Johnson (played by Powell), a Houston cop who worked undercover as a fake hit man to help convict criminals in murder-for-hire cases. The film was adapted from a 2001 Texas Monthly article by director Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the script with Powell. Linklater and Powell took the liberty of deviating from the true story, and instead imagined what might happen if one of Gary fell for one of his so-called clients—a beautiful, alluring woman named Madison (played by Adria Arjona). There’s just one problem for Gary: Madison thinks she’s hooking up with the sexy, dangerous hit man named Ron. Not the mild-mannered, nerdy, bird-loving college professor named Gary.

The Hit Man sex scenes, cleverly, indulge in the very same kind of role play that Gary engages in for his undercover work. It just comes with a sexy little twist. First, Gary and Madison start out with the basics: Passionately making out against the front door of Madison’s apartment, followed by Gary eating Madison out on her kitchen island. Shout out to Arjona’s lime green, floral-patterned cowboy boots, which stay on.

During the sex-capades montage that follows, Gary muses in a voice over that he’s a much better lover as “Ron,” perhaps because he’s able to turn off his brain and follow his instincts. Or maybe, Gary thinks, it’s the element of danger between the two lovers that made the sex so good. Madison thinks she’s having sex with a professional killer, while Gary knows he’s having sex with a woman willing to pay to have someone killed. Whatever the reason, the sparks are more than just flying—they’re burning up into red-hot flames.

But as Gary and Madison continue to hook up, they take their sexual activities to a new level. A free upgrade, if you will. To what, you ask? Role play, of course! Specifically, airline role play—which is especially funny given Powell’s recent, breakout role in the 2022 Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.

Gary comes over to Madison’s house, and finds her dolled up in a sexy pilot’s uniform. She informs Gary that they’ll be flying “somewhere hot and tropical,” and that he needs to unbuckle his seatbelt, “for your own safety.” Gary doesn’t hesitate to follow instruction, and unbuckles his belt with a patented Glen Powell smirk.

Linklater then cuts to a scene of the two lovebirds getting down to business on the bed. Madison tucks her pilot’s hat onto Gary’s head, instead. In other words, Glen Powell finally gets to wear a pilot’s hat, and he absolutely shows off those top guns.

In a recent interview with Decider, Linklater the airline-related role play was not, in fact, intended as a wink to Powell’s recent role in Top Gun: Maverick. “I think we just thought that was funny,” Linklater said. “Adria [Arjona] maybe came up with that? I think she did.”

So it sounds like we’ll have to ask Arjona if she was thinking of Top Gun when she pitched the idea. Linklater went on to say, that while he hasn’t done many explicit sex scenes in his films past, the sexual relationship between Gary and Madison was “carnal passion drives the story, and it’s important.”

The director added, “That’s why I haven’t done a lot of gratuitous sex scenes. The day I do it, it’s going to be important. It’s going to be very intertwined with the story. And that was important for them. So working with them, I was like, ‘Well, what’s what’s sexy? Let’s pull this off in a realistic and yet hot way.’ So everybody kind of brought stuff to the table. That was the way we approached it. And so what they thought was fun, and funny, too. That’s a fun, playful scene.”

The Hit Man sex scenes, are not, however—as Powell has stated at past public screenings of the film—the first sex scene in a Richard Linklater movie.

“In the movie, Everybody Wants Some!!, there’s a sex scene with Glen Powell in it! Look at the movie, there’s a naked Glen Powell!” Linklater exclaimed, when Decider asked about Powell’s claim. “Glen himself has been in a sex scene in a movie of Richard Linklater. So I don’t know if he got that right.”