The longest gaps between actors reprising their most famous roles

What was once old is new again. Tom Cruise is Maverick. Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones. Michael Keaton is Beetlejuice.

All three actors originally took up these roles in the 1980s and became cultural icons as a result but after decades and in spite of advancing age, have returned to times past for another adventure.

As Hollywood becomes increasingly focussed on sequels, spin-offs and the development of already known names, it's going to become even more commonplace for studios to coax stars into classic roles. After all, there was an entire Spider-Man movie about it.

With Keaton returning for a sequel to the 1988 cult classic Beetlejuice, almost four decades since he last played the role, we thought we'd look at some of the stars who returned to their most iconic roles after the longest time.

Read on to see who took the longest time out for playing the same character.

Tom Cruise as Maverick: 36 years

Top Gun in 1986 was a cultural phenomenon. Top Gun: Maverick in 2022 was a cultural phenomenon. Tom Cruise had barely aged a day in the 36 years between the first film and the second.

The film picked up a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars and was widely credited for helping resurrect the cinema going experience after the COVID-19 pandemic, so it's fair to say Cruise's return to the hot seat was a successful one.

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones: 18 years

Harrison Ford did also return to play Han Solo for the Star Wars sequel trilogy (and Deckard in Blade Runner 2049) but he's returned twice to play Indiana Jones.

After The Last Crusade appeared to be the end for the swashbuckling archeologist, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas brought Indy and his whip back for 2008's not very well received Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, 18 years after Ford had last played Jones.

The actor reprised the legendary role in 2023's Dial of Destiny after another 16 years had passed.

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker: 32 years

Over 30 years passed between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. That was a lot of years without Star Wars protagonist Luke Skywalker. And it was an even longer wait for him to say anything given he only has a cameo in the first of the sequel trilogy.

But for fans, it was great to see Hamill again.

Michael Keaton as Batman: 31 years

Keaton was originally supposed to return as Batman for Batgirl before Warner Bros axed the film in post-production.

His official return as the caped crusader came in 2023's The Flash, three decades after he last played Batman in 1992's Batman Returns.

Sylvester Stallone as Rocky: 16 years

The mid-00s saw Sylvester Stallone bring back his two most famous characters in Rocky and Rambo but the slurring pugilist was always the one that resonated greater with audiences and the actor himself.

Last seen in the poorly received Rocky V in 1990, Stallone laced up the gloves once again in 2006 for the poignant Rocky Balboa. He has continued to play the character in the first two Creed films.

Paul Newman as Fast Eddie: 25 years

The Hustler is a classic of 60s cinema but never a film you'd think would need a sequel nearly 30 years later.

Directed by Martin Scorsese and also starring Cruise and a young Forest Whitaker, The Color of Money saw Paul Newman return as pool shark Fast Eddie and in the process picking up his first Academy Award at the seventh attempt.

Sam Neill as Dr Alan Grant: 21 years

Elevated to worldwide star status with the release of Jurassic Park in 1993, Sam Neill elected not to return for the The Lost World, the first Jurassic sequel but starred in 2001's Jurassic Park III.

The New Zealander did not initially come back for the 2015 Jurassic World reboot until 2022's Dominion that saw him reunited with original co-stars Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern for the first time in 30 years.

Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago: 33 years

Rocky IV sent Dolph Lundgren from science genius to global icon as he played Soviet boxer Ivan Drago.

Over 30 years and several collaborations with co-star Sylvester Stallone later, Lundgren and his bleach blonde hair returned to the ongoing boxing franchise and gave the best performance of his career.

Eddie Murphy as Akeem Joffer: 33 years

Coming to America is still the funniest Eddie Murphy has ever been. That's what makes it surprising that the world had to wait over 30 years for a sequel especially given that Murphy's star had since fallen drastically.

Arsenio Hall and James Earl Jones returned with Murphy for the 2021 sequel but the magic wasn't there.

Vin Diesel as Xander Cage: 12 years

In the early 00s, Vin Diesel was weighing up sequel offers to The Fast and the Furious, Pitch Black and XXX. XXX ended up being the one that got neglected and he was replaced by Ice Cube for the sequel but had always made it clear that he would be up for returning to the spy series.

His wish was granted 16 years later in the aptly named Return of Xander Cage that also starred Donnie Yen.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be released on Friday, 6 September.