The first trailer for Lightyear has shown off Disney and Pixar’s ‘real life’ version of Buzz Lightyear, as well as Space Ranger members of Star Command.
The movie, which is set to release summer 2022, follows the journey of Buzz Lightyear (this time voiced by Chris Evans) as he progresses from a test pilot to a full-blown Space Ranger in Star Command. The trailer shows a quick look at that journey, opening on Lightyear testing what looks to be an experimental spaceship. Later we see Buzz on an alien planet, getting caught up in the tentacles of an alien monster, and him approaching a realistic version of his iconic white, green, and purple space armour. There’s also an ominous box opening to reveal red light, but it cuts before we can see what’s inside. Could it be… Emperor Zurg?
If this is all a bit confusing, Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter explained the concept earlier this year, and it’s most definitely not a Toy Story film or prequel. "At first glance you might think, 'Well, this is a Toy Story film’. Well, not so fast,” he said. “See, back when we created the very first Toy Story, we designed Buzz Lightyear with the idea that he was a toy based on some really cool character from an epic, blockbuster film. Well, all these years later we decided it’s time to make that film."
Disney and Pixar previously explored the idea of the ‘real’ Buzz Lightyear in the animated TV show Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, but that and Lightyear seem to share little in common aside from treating Buzz as a real person rather than a toy. Where the TV show was a bright and colourful, very Saturday morning affair with aliens working for Star Command, it appears that Lightyear is more of a ‘realistic’ sci-fi approach.
The new poster for Lightyear shows off the detail going into the artstyle, with a grubby ‘caution’ warning on the red armour segment that, at least in the toy version of Buzz, activates his wings. Here, however, it looks more like a port, perhaps for fuel or oxygen.
Lightyear was announced at Disney’s investor day last year, where it also announced that The Mandalorian would have a spin-off in the form of Star Wars: Ahsoka. We recently learned that Hayden Christensen will appear in that show, and that he'll also be playing Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show.
Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.