The Lightyear movie can make Buzz’s recasting Toy Story canon by acknowledging what makes the man different from the action figure he inspired.
Lightyear can make Buzz's recasting Toy Story canon. Chris Evans voices the hero Buzz Lightyear in his origin movie, which will seemingly show the events that granted Buzz the kind of fame that inspires the action figure's creation. In the original Toy Story films, Tim Allen voiced the Buzz Lightyear toy who did not realize he was a toy, and his recasting was greeted with some disappointment from those who loved Allen's performance.
The second Lightyear trailer has provided more context for the upcoming film's plot and also revealed some other deviations from Toy Story, including a redesign of the Evil Emperor Zurg. Originally a Darth Vader parody, Zurg was Buzz's archenemy in Toy Story, and the Lightyear trailer portrayed him as a much more menacing character due to his much larger figure and greater invulnerability to Buzz's attacks. While some of these differences could appear to be unnecessarily distancing the movie from the original Toy Story, there may be another, smarter reason.
Making Buzz's recasting for the Lightyear movie canon can further flesh out the popular Toy Story character as well as add another level of realism to the story. It's not uncommon for video games, spin-off animated shows, and even merchandise created from popular media to modify aspects of the original, especially its cast. Voice actors are often recast for these spin-off projects since hiring the same big actors to provide their voices for a video game or other work can be challenging and expensive. Lightyear can lean into this by acknowledging that the Buzz Lightyear toy sounds different from the actual person that toy was based on. After all, it wouldn't make sense for a man as beloved as Buzz to be able to fit time into his busy schedule to provide voice work for an action figure.
Lightyear may choose not to acknowledge Buzz's recasting, but ignoring the change would be a mistake when there is such a fun and simple alternative. Not only does it make sense that the real Buzz would be unable to provide his voice for a child's toy, but by allowing the recasting to be a part of Toy Story canon, it also gives Lightyear greater freedom to expand on and change as much of the toy Buzz Lightyear's story as they want. The movie's trailers have already made it clear that elements of Buzz's backstory have been altered, giving Buzz himself a greater sense of humor while making his enemy Zurg appear more intimidating than the child-friendly version of him in toy stores. Recognizing the character's recasting would simply be taking this a step further by affirming just how the man is different from the action figure he inspired.
Making Buzz's recasting Toy Story canon can let Lightyear better embrace just what makes the original Toy Story films so special. No matter how closely the Buzz Lightyear toy was modeled after the real person, there were bound to be differences between them as well. Lightyear can explore the many ways that stories change over time, especially when adapted into a child's toy.
