We've all heard about the Lightyear movie by now. Set to release June 17, 2022, this ambitious (and so far gorgeous looking!) feature animation sees one of Disney and Pixar's most iconic characters thrust into an entirely new context. We know Buzz Lightyear as an intergalactic hot-head, a goofy yet stubborn team leader, and most importantly, a sentient children's toy. Across four feature-length Toy Story films and lord-knows-how-many Pixar Shorts, Lightyear is well-established as a fiercely loyal and caring character who will stop at nothing to ensure that his friends remain happy and safe. That's the core of his character, tenacious, brave, and always fighting for what's right. These traits are undoubtedly going to carry over into Lightyear's own movie, and perhaps seeing them on the big screen is what inspired a young Andy to want a Buzz Lightyear action figure so badly in Toy Story.

According to director Angus MacLane, Lightyear is an in-universe film about the character of Buzz lightyear "that Andy might have seen". A straightforward action sci-fi franchise that likely spawned the toy incarnation of Buzz that we already know and love. In this new film, everything toy Buzz once believed about himself may be true: he may be a space ranger, he could actually be recording mission logs for Star Command, the safety of the universe may even be in his hands. An exciting concept, but not exactly original. In fact, over 20 years ago, a straightforward action-packed sci-fi Buzz Lightyear movie was released for home video - and it's an absolute blast.

Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command: A Surprisingly Great Stand-Alone Story

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Disney/Pixar

You won't find this movie on Disney+ at time of writing, but this may change in the future. For now, if you can get your hands on a copy, we'd highly recommend giving it a watch. The first scene even features the full set of characters in Toy Story, animated in all their 3D glory, gathering around the TV set to watch a VCR of the new Buzz Lightyear Movie. An efficient and satisfyingly meta way of explaining how this ties into the Toy Story universe - and we didn't need to interview a single director!

Related: Lightyear Toys Announced in New Mattel Deal with Disney and Pixar

Following this opening, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins is all action from the get-go. We see the eponymous space ranger and his partner, Warp Darkmatter, out in the sticks on an uncharted moon. They're searching for three missing L.G.M.s (Little Green Men (yes, the ones that say "The Claaaaw")). The pair have charming and unique chemistry, they handily dismantle a giant slag monster while bantering, quite naturally, back and forth. However, things take a dark turn when our duo discover a hidden base in which Emperor Zurg is imprisoning and torturing the little green men. This is made all the worse by the fact that the entire L.G.M. species feel each other's pain through 'the uni-mind', a centralized neural network that connects every little green man. Zurg sets his base to self-destruct while Buzz and Warp rescue the L.G.M.s, and in a heartbreaking turn of fate, Buzz's beloved partner is trapped under rubble, and Buzz is forced to leave him behind, staring back in horror as the entire moon crater caves in and explodes. Pretty brutal.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command

These details go on to become central to the plot. Zurg is hell-bent on stealing and weaponizing the uni-mind while Buzz swears never to work with a partner again for fear of putting them in harm's way. We're introduced to the vibrant and expansive world of Star Command, meeting the promising young ranger, Mira Nova, an experimental robot AI called 'XR', and a clumsy janitor with aspirations for space travel and glory. Nova is a highly competent, driven, and resourceful female counterpart to the older, more stubborn Lightyear, while also serving as a kind of reflection of his ambitious younger self. Meanwhile, Zurg has cobbled together a new lackie, 'Agent Z', whose first task involves burning down L.G.M. villages with a flame thrower while Zurg and his robot army steal the uni-mind, throwing the L.G.M.s and Star Command into total disarray. Only Lightyear and his unlikely accomplices can save Star Command and restore balance to a universe being quickly overrun with pure, mind-invading evil. For a direct-to-video movie from the year 2000, this flick packs a heck of a punch and is epic in scale.

Little Green Men, Emperor Zurg, And High-Concept Sci-Fi Action?

Lightyear Questions

The original Buzz Lightyear film packs a lot in, but it also doesn't worry about explaining every little detail. Star Command is our base of operations, but it's a space station, and it is notable that we never see or even hear mention of Earth. While there are some poignant emotional moments, the movie also doesn't spend much time interrogating or developing it's characters. Even Buzz Lightyear's arc is just him learning to work in a team instead of insisting on being alone, which isn't bad at all, it's compelling, but one might call it emotional paint-by-numbers. The movie is more geared to high-octane sci-fi action.

Related: Lightyear Is Causing Confusion, Which Could End in Disappointment

What about next summer's Lightyear, then? Disney and Pixar are highly revered, especially in recent years, as storytellers who do not pull their emotional punches. A recent teaser trailer offered a wistful first look at Lightyear; the music was ethereal and sparse, the tone was very serious, a T-shirted Lightyear was doing a lot of looking at his reflection and exhaling. Does this reboot have to sacrifice some of its color and joy in order to reach new emotional heights? Will Disney have to ditch the litany of aliens in favor of a more grounded, human story? Or, will this new movie's longer runtime and much larger budget allow it to have both? From the small snippets of footage we've seen so far, it's possible that we will be graced with an epic, high-concept, sci-fi extravaganza that also explores the motivations and challenges faced by the man himself, that core character who cares for everyone and always wants to do the right thing.

Everything The New Trailer Teases – And Everything Else We’re Hoping to See

The Lightyear trailer starts us off planetside. It's safe to assume we're on Earth, we see breathable air, people milling around, and a large-scale operation that seems to be equal parts military and scientific. It's difficult to tell how near or far in the future this movie is set, although Buzz skimming across the surface of the sun certainly suggests some major advancements in space travel.

Very little is revealed about the plot, but we certainly have a sense that a weighty mission is to come. Helpful robots are back, taking a leaf from the original, as well as what looks like a new leading lady to play partners with Lightyear! The words 'Property of Star Command' are seen printed on Lightyear's tee-shirt, so they're definitely back as an organization, although no sign of a giant space station so far. We've seen flashes of the iconographic green and purple suit, and one particularly ominous shot shows a suited-up Lightyear walking towards the menacing metal doors of a spacecraft, flanked by robots that bare a striking resemblance to Zurg's evil army from the 2D era.

Lightyear Walking

So far, this looks promising. Perhaps Zurg will emerge as a fierce and ruthless tyrant, and perhaps we'll have time to explore how this ruthlessness affects and changes our morally driven hero. One final note: a single shot from the trailer shows some terrain that doesn't look exactly... Earthy. Buzz and a trusty robot sidekick poke their heads nervously up over a mossy rock and stare in anticipation at an empty, misty scene.

Who will emerge from their hiding place, or stroll into frame from the left? For our money, it just might be a little green man.