As Pixar fans will recall, Toy Story 2 pretty clearly established that the evil Emperor Zurg was none other than Buzz Lightyear’s father. At the time this gag was mostly just a Star Wars reference, and not one that should have been taken super seriously in terms of canon. So when a trailer for last summer’s Lightyear movie confirmed that Zurg would appear in the upcoming movie, fans braced for the return of that familiar reveal, only to see that the movie was counting on you thinking that and then pulled the rug out from under you.
Speaking in an interview with TheWrap, director Angus MacLane confirmed that they were originally going to stick to this reveal, a deleted scene that is available on the home media release. One of the main reasons they changed it though is that the movie Ad Astra, another space-themed movie with father-themes, was released while they were in production on the spinoff. “A lot of it comes down to how much value as an audience you have in seeing a person get into a fight with their father,” MacLane told the outlet.
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As you may remember, the big Zurg reveal in Lightyear is that Buzz himself is the man underneath the giant robotic helmet. Voiced by James Brolin, this alternate version of the space ranger is one that has been to the far future and amassed advanced technology in an attempt to change the past. “I imagine his dogged determination to fulfill the mission would cause him to stop eating,” MacLane said of the Evil Buzz’s look. “Still recognizable (as) the hero, but (with) a frailty. The years of obsession had driven him wild.”
Even though Lightyear had a disappointing performance at the box office, that didn’t stop fans, and the cast, from thinking about what other characters from the Toy Story universe could carry their own movies. Speaking at the film’s premiere, Captain America himself Chris Evans (who voices Buzz Lightyear in the film), was asked this question and his answer may not surprise you.
“Look, I’m a big Woody fan, so maybe he’s next,” Evans told Variety. As Toy Story fans know, Woody’s origins were explored in Toy Story 2, with the classic kids show “Woody’s Roundup” becoming a focal point of the plot and introducing the other new toys into the sequel. Even with that already in the canon, the potential for say a dark-and-gritty modern reboot seems….kind of like a cool idea? Especially if Pixar keeps their tongue in their cheek.
