Everyone thought Toy Story 4 was the end; but no, Pixar manages to surprise us all. From 2020, Pixar has made Onward, Soul, and Luca, with a few other short films on the side. Scheduled to release June 17, 2022, some critics are calling Lightyear a ‘great idea’ and others a ‘cash-grab and nostalgia poke’.

The original Toy Story films, alongside Buzz Lightyear’s spin-off show, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, painted the character as a toy; plastic, rigid, and small. This movie with the spaceman, however, depicts him as flesh and blood, a living organism inside a space corp; and voiced by Chris Evans, of all people.

Now here’s the big question; Toy Story 1-4 all have Buzz Lightyear as Sheriff Woody’s partner, a space adventurer toy that has to learn that he is that; just a toy.

What happened in the studio? Did Buzz find a machine to turn himself human after Toy Story 4? Turns out, Lightyear is a prequel to all the movies, serving as a sort of origin story of the famous action figure. In the Toy Story world, the Buzz Lightyear figure was based on a movie, just how a lot of franchises today have spin-off merchandise, like Star Wars and the MCU. It was a smash hit back in that day, spinning off a bunch of Buzz Lightyear toys.

So, running out of ideas, and continuing to try to push their oldest series, Pixar decided to “make the movie from the movie.”

It’s not yet rated, and with only one Teaser Trailer out by now, it is impossible to judge exactly what to expect from this movie. It could be great, amazing animation, story telling, or it could be just a ploy to get people to spend money on tickets and new merchandise, just because Chris Evans is in the movie. Thunder Ridge Freshman Ashley Isom said: “Yeah!” almost immediately after being asked if she would see Lightyear just because Chris Evans was in it.

Now, it makes sense that Disney would pick Chris Evans to be in the new Pixar movie, as he has been a close friend of them throughout the Marvel franchise. This does mean one thing though; the movie has a high budget if it can afford Chris Evans.

We’ll never know how great it could be until we see it!