Buzz Lightyear Is Getting An Origin Movie And A New Voice

Ready or not Toy Story fans, Buzz Lightyear is coming back but he won’t be voiced by the only Buzz Lightyear we know.

By Rick Gonzales | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Lightyear

Ready or not Toy Story fans, Buzz Lightyear is coming back but he won’t be voiced by the only Buzz Lightyear we know. Tim Allen voiced the character in all four Toy Story films, but this time he will be voiced by Captain America himself, Chris Evans. Say What?

Disney’s Investor Day event was just that, with so many announcements made they could make one’s head spin or even send them to infinity and beyond. As day turned to night during the event, Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer Pete Doctor, he of the Oscar-winning films Up and Inside Out, came out to reveal that Evans, who recently handed over his Captain America shield, will be the voice of Buzz Lightyear in a new animated feature titled Lightyear.

Pixar followed Docter’s announcement with a tweet confirming Evans’s role, “Blasting into theaters June 17, 2022, Lightyear is the definitive story of the original Buzz Lightyear. Voiced by @ChrisEvans, get ready to go to “infinity and beyond” with Lightyear.”

Chris Evans responded in kind, obviously lost for words. “I don’t even have the words.”

Now, before you all go getting your space undies in a bunch thinking that Allen should be the one and only voice of Buzz, Evans also had to talk many others down from the ledge. As news broke that Evans would be “replacing” Allen as Buzz Lightyear, fans took to Twitter condemning the move. Cancel culture was ready to make its move but ya’ll can rest a while. It appears this new story of Buzz Lightyear will not be the Tim Allen Toy Story Buzz Lightyear but instead, the film will tell the story of the original Buzz Lightyear, the human who inspired the toy.

Here’s what the human version of Buzz Lightyear will look like…

Buzz Lightyear

And here’s what Evans tweeted, setting minds at ease..

“And just to be clear, this isn’t Buzz Lightyear the toy. This is the origin story of the human Buzz Lightyear that the toy is based on.”

@ChrisEvans

For even more clarification, Evans went to Instagram to explain his initial joy to the news that Pixar wanted him, as it’d always had been a dream of his to work with Pixar. “Working with Pixar is a dream come true. I’ve been a massive fan of their films since the very beginning. My team could barely contain their excitement when they told me that Pixar had a pitch for me.”

And then his excitement turned immediately to confusion when Pixar’s pitch came in two words, Buzz Lightyear. Evans wrote, “All they said was ‘Buzz Lightyear’. I didn’t know what that meant, since Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear, and no one could ever touch his performance.” High praise for Allen and we all can agree rightfully so.

chris evans captain america
Chris Evans

Evans went on, “I needed to know how this character was different and why this story was worth telling. I can say 2 things with absolute confidence: 1. I didn’t stop smiling through the ENTIRE pitch. Ear to ear. 2. Everyone can rest easy. And get very excited.”

And then Evans finished up his Instagram post by letting all his fans know Lightyear was in good hands. “Trust me when I say that they REALLY know what they’re doing over there. This one is gonna special, and it doesn’t step on a single thing. I can’t even put my excitement into words. I smile every time I think about it. #LIGHTYEAR.” You can read his entire post below.

While the news of Evans becoming the real Buzz Lightyear was the talk of Pixar, it was also announced that Angus MacLane will be directing the animated prequel with a June 17, 2022 premiere date. MacLane has been a big part of Pixar in the past having been an animator on Pixar’s Ratatouille, Monsters, Inc., WALL·E, and The Incredibles.