It won't be long until Toy Story fans can experience the somewhat meta adventures of renowned space ranger Buzz Lightyear when the Lightyear movie releases in theaters. Previous trailers have revealed that Buzz and his crew will be stranded on a mysterious planet filled with hostile, tentacled monsters, but the latest "special look" posted on Pixar's official YouTube channel reveals another twist. After crashing the ship that was supposed to take the crew home, Buzz laments in the trailer, "My mistake has marooned us on this strange planet," confirming that Buzz himself shares a great deal of responsibility for the crew's predicament.
The trailer goes on to show Buzz refusing to give up on rescuing the crew, but he somehow travels to the future and meets a struggling band of amateur soldiers. The soldiers enlist Buzz's help in a conflict of their own -- taking on a ship full of aliens that includes this film's version of Zurg, Buzz's iconic nemesis. However, the biggest revelation of the trailer is still Buzz's role in the crew ending up marooned, which could have major implications for his character arc in Lightyear.
Previous Lightyear trailers have shown that this Buzz has a confident demeanor, a big contrast to the debilitating uncertainty his toy equivalent experienced in Toy Story 4. This latest preview shows a darker side to this confidence, as Buzz refuses help from a fellow crew member before scratching their return craft against the side of a cliff. How close the craft was to escaping unscathed is wince-inducing, especially when compared to the ultimate consequences of the damage. Buzz maintains his decisive approach in the rest of the preview as he tries to find a way to bring the crew home, but the special look confirms that, like his original characterization, this Buzz isn't always the perfect hero he seems to be.
Buzz's arc in Lightyear might challenge his insistence on doing things on his own so that he can find a balance between confidence in his abilities and accepting when he can't handle things alone. However, Buzz is not as solitary as this would imply, as his strong relationship with fellow space ranger Alisha Hawthorne shows that he is already capable of working in a team. Buzz's guilt in this preview gives new context to a scene in a previous trailer, in which Alisha insists that he "come right back to us" after his experimental launch. This line is even more meaningful knowing that it emphasizes that at least some crew members care about Buzz's safe return regardless of his mistake.
Alisha is not the only one who stays by Buzz's side: His robotic cat companion Sox announces that "my mission is to help you, and I'm not giving up on my mission." This could be a simple statement that Sox is a utility to assist Buzz with technical challenges. But the way Sox emphasizes the word "you" makes it seem like his primary purpose could be to help Buzz process his guilt and forgive himself for his part in the crew's isolation.
It also appears that Buzz won't be the only character dealing with mistakes from his past. In one of the trailer's funniest moments, the soldier Darby refuses to pick up a weapon to help save Buzz from an alien robot because "it's a violation of my parole!" The preview doesn't reveal anything about Darby's crimes, but if they represent something she seriously regrets, she and Buzz will have a lot in common, both personally and thematically.
This latest look expands Lightyear's plot from a straightforward rescue adventure to a story of growth and forgiveness. However, this doesn't change the spirit of adventure and excitement that seems to be at the heart of the movie. Buzz clearly regrets the crash, but it gives him the opportunity to be a true hero. Lightyear is still going to be a fun and funny sci-fi action movie that makes the most of its stylized yet evocatively realistic animation style, but it looks like its title character is going to have more internal conflict than he initially seemed to.
Lightyear crashes into theaters on June 17.