Today saw the debut of the first teaser trailer for Pixar’s Lightyear, a spinoff of the Toy Story franchise set to reveal the untold origins story of the real Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger of Star Command. Disney fans lost it over the trailer, which promises to be one of the animation studio’s most visually stunning films yet as well as a bonafide sci-fi adventure movie that’s tonally very different from Toy Story’s.
What’s more, it seems as if Lightyear could feature a major first for Pixar, too, by including some substantial LGBTQ+ representation. While there have been blink-and-you’ll-miss-it queer moments in previous Pixar outings — the lesbian couple in Finding Dory, for example -— it’s long since time for a prominent gay character or two in one of the studio’s films. And, according to the latest rumor, Lightyear will do just that.
Beyond the Trailer’s Grace Randolph revealed this encouraging tidbit on Twitter, in the wake of the trailer’s release. “I hear there is substantial LGBT representation in #Lightyear as well!” she wrote, after discussing the inclusivity of Marvel’s Eternals. For anyone wondering, Randolph clarified that, no, this comment doesn’t directly relate to Buzz himself.
Randolph didn’t go into specific details here, so it’s up to fans to speculate what “substantial” means. Onward previously featured Pixar’s first prominent LGBTQ character, with Lena Waithe’s Officer Specter mentioning her girlfriend in passing. We can hopefully expect more than this, then. Maybe, given Randolph is comparing Lightyear to Eternals, there will likewise be a major same-sex relationship depicted in the film.
So far, Chris Evans – replacing Tim Allen in the title role – is the only cast member confirmed for Lightyear, with much of the movie’s plot still kept under wraps. Expect more to come out as we near its release — in cinemas, most likely, and not on Disney Plus — on June 17, 2022.
