When you’ve been a star as long as Lightning McQueen has, you’re bound to encounter some adversity. In Cars 3, McQueen will not only have overcome his own injuries, but he’ll also have a new opponent to deal with that could care less who McQueen used to be.
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While the original Cars was a coming of age story, Cars 3 will be one centered around mid-life. The sudden realization that you’re getting older, and the adjustment that the realization requires (via EW).
First time director Brian Fee is behind the wheel for the anticipated sequel, and says about McQueen “”McQueen is not the young hotshot anymore, the kid he was back then in Cars 1. He’s in the middle of his life, and as an athlete, that’s getting up there. You have your whole life ahead of you, yet your career is starting to show its age. He’s looking in the mirror and realizing, ‘I’m 40 years old,’ and dealing with the fact that the thing that you love more than anything else, you might not be able to do forever.”
His opposition comes in the form of the sleek and technologically advanced Jackson Storm, who is voiced by Armie Hammer. “Jackson was born with a silver spoon in his mouth” says Fee. “Everything comes easy to him, and everything about him says he’s faster, so much so that we’ve designed him so that even when he’s standing next to McQueen, McQueen looks old.” This new wave of racer is top of the line in every regard, and it will take more than muscle to come out ahead.
“He thinks the world is his. He’s taking over. He’s owed it,” says Fee. “In a very broad term, I think of old football players with those little leather skull caps, and you think of football players now with all their armor, hitting so hard. It’s not the same game. What they did was not anything like what we do now. And that’s Jackson: He thinks the future of racing and the high-tech ways they train and what they can do means they’re taking the sport to a new level, and the older guys had their day, and it’s done, and they have no place in the future of racing.”
It’s not all gloom and doom for McQueen though. He will have a delightful new ally in the debuting Cruz Ramirez, who is voiced by Cristela Alonzo. Just because Ramirez is also sporting some starte of the art technology doesn’t mean she is intent on leaving the older generation of racers behind, and she will play an important part in McQueen’s rise back to the top. “Whereas others like Jackson would look at McQueen and dump him, Cruz isn’t like that at all. She’s the most optimistic person in the world and wants to do anything to help.” Fee was sold on Cristela for the part after seeing her sticom and standup specials, and was similarly sold on Hammer after his work in The Social Network.
John Lasseter, who directed the first two Cars films, calls Cars 3 “very emotional,” while Fee describes it as “the most human” of the franchise. As for where McQueen’s story goes from here, Fee kept it very vague, saying “Where the franchise goes from here, I have no idea what may be down the road, but I can tell you that for Lightning McQueen, as a character, I think by the end of the movie it’s safe to say that this is only the beginning for him.”
You can view several new character spotlight images in the gallery, along with a new still from the film.
Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he will need the help of an eager young race technician with her own plan to win, inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet, and a few unexpected turns. Proving that #95 isn’t through yet will test the heart of a champion on Piston Cup Racing’s biggest stage!
Cars 3 is set to debut in theaters on June 16, 2017.
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