Although Pixar hasn’t revealed everything about Toy Story 5In the plot, there is a specific detail that will continue an interesting line that has formed throughout the franchise. Toy Story 5The release date for is confirmed as June 19, 2026, so the day when the series releases another sequel is slowly approaching. Pixar revealed some temptations Toy Story 5 details at D23, specifically about Bonnie’s shift in interest to smart devices instead of toys, but also about who the film’s bad guys will be. While the villain has technically never appeared in the franchise before, he’ll still be eerily familiar.
THE Toy Story The films aren’t the only episodes that make up the larger franchise. Just like the many Pixar shorts 2022 Light year the spinoff is also technically within the main canon. Additionally, there are also TV shows and video games that expand on the most popular branches of the franchise. In almost every corner of the property, there is a character who has been twisted and twisted far more than any other, but always seems to be in the same way.
Toy Story 5 won’t be the first Toy Story movie to feature an “Evil Buzz Lightyear”
Other Buzz Lightyears have been villains before
Pixar is featuring 50 Buzz Lightyears stuck in toy mode in Toy Story 5and while it has not yet been confirmed whether they will be the main antagonists, it is likely that they will cause some chaos for the franchise’s main Buzz and all the other established characters. Although “bad” Buzzes have been featured before, they have never flooded the story en masse like this before. So while it’s not entirely original, Toy Story 5 is at least using the trope in a new way.
The trend started in 1995 Toy Story when Tim Allen’s original character was originally introduced as something of a quasi-antagonist, but was convinced by Woody that he was actually a toy. In 1999 Toy Story 2Buzz is replaced by a belt-wearing counterpart who also thinks he is a toy, imprisoning the film’s main Buzz in the process. Toy Story 3 had Buzz restarted by Lotso and served as a prison guard for the trapped toys. Until Light year made use of the storytelling device, with Emperor Zurg revealing himself to be a version of Buzz from the future.
Toy Story 4 focused much more on Woody, so there wasn’t much room in the narrative for an Evil Buzz.
However, Toy Story 4 focused much more on Woody, so there wasn’t much room in the narrative for an Evil Buzz. Deviation from the trend may also have been part of the consequences of the Light year doing so badly. As such, Thi, story 5Buzz Lightyears’ horde is ready to restore a trend who actually only skipped one movie. It remains to be seen whether Toy Story 6 will eventually happen, and how/if Buzz Lightyear will factor into another sequel.
Why Toy Story Keeps Doing the “Evil Buzz Lightyear” Twist
Buzz’s originality as a fictional authority figure makes him a good fit as a pseudo-villain
Every Buzz Lightyear action figure featured in the series so far has been believed to be the real Buzz – which, in the world of movies, doesn’t actually exist. The toy is based on a fictional character from Light year film, although Tim Allen’s character doesn’t behave the same way as Chris Evans’ iteration in the 2022 spinoff. Buzz toys are much more impulsivedramatic and exaggerated. While they aren’t trying to act like bad guys, their interactions with the other toys certainly paint them in that light.
Buzz initially thinks he is every inch the Space Ranger he was made to look likeand as such, he appears to believe that he has absolute authority over everyone he encounters. While Andy’s Buzz arc moves him away from this belief, it would make sense for a new or redefined Buzz to display the characteristics that make them seem villainous. It’s simply part of Buzz’s character and story, so it will continue to happen.
The best “Evil Buzz” came from the most underrated Toy Story project
A Buzz Lightyear cartoon featured a truly nefarious version of the character
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was a 2D animated show that ran for 65 episodes between 2000 and 2001. In the show, Buzz was a serving Space Ranger, voiced by Patrick Warburton, rather than being a toy like Allen’s version of the character, and so the project was something of a spiritual predecessor to the 2022 film. Light year. He’s been involved in some surprisingly complex sci-fi stories, including a multiverse arc – which allowed a truly evil Buzz Lightyear to enter the fray.
Star CommandThe evil Buzz came from a reality where he became the Emperor instead of Zurg. He’s actively a villain in the traditional sense, rather than the other “evil” Buzz Lightyears in the franchise coming down to a matter of perspective. In other words, he reveled in his abominable actions. The show was released during a fallow period in the Pixar series, with Toy Story 3 still years since conception. So while it’s largely forgotten now, the animated project undeniably sustained Buzz’s evil streak, which will return with a vengeance in Toy Story 5.