Lightyear was a film that did try going to “Infinity and Beyond”, but stumbled a lot in reaching to its destination. Directed by Angus MacLane, Lightyear is a spinoff of the Toy Story films. Lightyear itself exists within the Toy Story universe as a movie, and tells the story of Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans), the man on whom the toy is based on. It follows him trying to get his marooned crew off a planet that's millions of lightyears away from Earth and also face off against the evil Zurg (James Brolin). Lightyear Movie Review: Chris Evans’ Toy Story Spinoff Is An Enjoyable Space Odyssey That, Sadly, Lacks the Pixar Heart (LatestLY Exclusive).
The Toy Story films were a great example of the excellence that Pixar could provide in terms of storytelling. However, Lightyear fails to reach those heights and rather plays it safe with its storytelling. It’s still a fun movie, but the ending wasn’t able to pack that emotional punch. However, the ending still teases for a future where we are definitely going to see these characters again. There are also two mid-credits sequences and one post-credits scene that teases a sequel. So, let’s take a look at the ending and post-credits scene of Lightyear and decode the meaning behind it.
Watch The Trailer:
The Ending
After Buzz and Izzy (Keke Palmer) make Zurg’s ship self-destruct, they try to make an escape through their ship. In the chaos, Buzz is not able to make it to the ship and he boards a different jet and makes it out of there as the Zurg ship explodes. Zurg ends up surviving the blast and starts to destroy Buzz’s jet and steals the hyperspace crystal. Buzz realising that his friends ship is going out of control, he ejects out of his jet and lasers the hyperspace crystal causing an explosion and taking out Zurg.
He then deploys his wings and starts flying in space and stabilises the ship with his friends in it. They return to the planet, and Buzz decides he doesn’t want to focus on escaping it, as everything he needs, is already on this planet and embraces his friends. They are quickly then met by Commander Burnside (Isiah Whitlock Jr) who arrests them and takes them to command base.
Over there, Burns reveals that he doesn’t want to punish Buzz, but rather wants him to lead a squad of Space Rangers to protect them from galactic threats. Buzz selects Izzy, Sox (Peter Sohn), Mo (Taika Waititi) and Darby (Dale Soules) for his team. The movie ends with them shooting off into space for a new adventure.
The First Mid-Credits Scene
The first mid-credits scene is played for a joke as we see Commander Burnside in his office laughing as a bug of the planet gets zapped.
The Second Mid-Credits Scene
The other scene is played for a joke too as we see a robot still giving navigations to Buzz and team. This was a joke set up at the beginning of the film.
The Post-Credits Scene
The post-credits scene gives us the revelation that Zurg is still alive and is floating in space. The film ends with his eyes lighting up.
How Does it Set Up a Sequel?
Well, the film ends with a new Space Ranger group being formed and it looks like the sequel will be based around that. In this film, we saw Buzz try and learn to work in a group. We also saw him try and achieve hyperspace, but we never saw him actually be a proper Space Ranger. Aside from the end, where the action started to go down.
If the sequel gets made (which it will because the movie is going to definitely make its money), we can expect the Intergalactic adventures of Buzz and group. We will definitely get to see more planets and more action. The version of the Buzz might also come closer to how his toy is depicted; a brawny figure ready for a fight at all times.
Zurg is alive as well at the end, and his inclusion will create for some complications. Lightyear didn’t see him as Emperor Zurg, but rather just Zurg. With it being revealed that he is the Buzz from future, we can expect him to become Emperor Zurg in the sequel too. Lightyear: Chris Evans Speaks About Disney Removing and Restoring Same-Sex Kiss in Pixar Film, Says He is A 'Little Frustrated'.
The side characters here can also be fleshed out as well. Seeing how Buzz didn’t get to spend much time with Alisha, that part can be rectified here with him trying to make it up by being there for Izzy.
You can check out Lightyear as it is playing in theatres right now.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 17, 2022 11:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).