Who is Jennifer Connelly's Character Penny in 'Top Gun: Maverick'?

Top Gun's Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise, has a new love in his life, and it's not Kelly McGillis' Charlie Blackwood.

The film's sequel Top Gun: Maverick reveals Maverick's love life has been anything but simple since his happily-ever-after in the iconic film, but that he and Penny Benjamin have had several encounters in the past.

Here is everything you need to know about about Jennifer Connelly's character and her importance in Maverick's life.

Warning: This article contains some spoilers for 'Top Gun: Maverick'

Who is Jennifer Connelly's Character Penny in 'Top Gun: Maverick'?

Despite not appearing in Top Gun, Penny has supposedly known Maverick for some time. They have been romantically involved on-and-off for several years but their relationship "always ends the same" as Penny tells Maverick in Top Gun: Maverick when they meet again after several years apart.

Penny is the daughter of a former admiral and she is actually mentioned in Top Gun by Commander Tom "Stinger" Jordan, who is Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards) and Bill "Cougar" Cortell's (John Stockwell) commanding officer.

In the scene, Jordan mentions how Maverick was disciplined in the past for having "a history of high-speed passes over five air control towers and one admiral's daughter," with Goose mentioning her name under his breath.

Later, Goose's wife Carole Bradshaw mentions to Maverick that he had told her all about "the time you went ballistic with Penny Benjamin."

In Top Gun: Maverick Penny owns a bar near the TOPGUN base and it is where the pilots often go to relax.

It's at the bar that Maverick meets his former flame once again. She tells him not to "look at her" the way he is, because things always end the same and she suggests that this time they shouldn't start anything.

Unfazed by the rebuttal, Maverick continues to flirt with Penny and later she takes him out on her sailing boat when her daughter Amelia (Lyliana Wray) chooses to study for school instead of going with her.

When Maverick meets Amelia again it also becomes evident that he has been out of her and Penny's life for some time because he comments on how big she has grown since the last time he'd seen her.

Amelia is very familiar with Maverick too because when she catches him jumping out of the window after spending the night with Penny she tells him not to "break her [mother's] heart again like the last time."

Maverick and Penny may have had a romantic relationship several times over the years but he is not Amelia's father. Her real father is out of the picture and Penny raises her daughter as a single mother.

Penny's father also makes a brief appearance in the movie when Maverick visits her bar and meets him while she and Amelia are out sailing.

The movie ends with Maverick and Penny reuniting after he survives a dangerous mission alongside Goose's son Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, with the couple seeming to decide on having on a more serious relationship.

Top Gun: Maverick is out in theaters now.