A theory and ramble around Lightyear

So I recently watched the new Lightyear Trailer (as of this time) and it more or less got me thinking of a sort of theory. No, I'm not gonna go completely MattPatt/Film Theory on you and be like "That robot cat is actually a spy for Zurg" or "Earth is actually a wasteland and the mutant vines are a result of radiation". No, rather, I think a good majority of you may agree with this, but Lightyear may be an inworld equivalent to a live action movie in the Toy Story universe. You could say that this is somewhat similar to Kill Bill being a movie within a movie universe, albeit, probably more blatant. I would be surprised if it begins with Bonnie taking our Buzz Lightyear action figure to see Lightyear in theaters, or if they make future Toy Story shorts & movies, there's a poster of Lightyear in the background.

However, the real rambling is more about Zurg in movie. Again, not gonna try to pull a Film theory and make some weird theory about Zurg. It's more of a discussion I had with someone in a Discord server I'm in. Nothing crazy, but I jokingly said that the ultimate spoiler is that Zurg is Buzz Lightyear's father, based on the scene from Toy Story 2, which is basically an easy to spot parody of Star Wars with Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's father. The real kicker is in this chat, the person said that in the cartoon show, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Zurg said he was Buzz's father, but it was all as a means to distract and confuse Buzz. But if that's the case… why was Zurg and the other Buzz playing catch like a father and son?

I know, there's 2 main obvious answers. The first being that in Toy Story 2, it's a humorous way for them to let go of the other Buzz, and as a sort of answer for "What if Luke joined Darth Vader", which was also answered in Robot Chicken in a way. Second major answer is that Buzz Lightyear of Star Command had it's own writers, and were basically told to make 60 episodes, given only some of the art used in Toy Story 2 to make everything. But where does Lightyear fit in? Will it follow what Toy Story 2 established? Will it follow what it's cartoon did? Or… Will they just ignore both entirely and just make Zurg a big, evil villain that needs to be stopped? 

While I don't really have answers for what they'll do persay, but I can view it as a sort of alternate take for a character in universe. What do I mean by that? Well, I have the perfect examples: Spider-Man. More specifically, all three Live action Spider-Men that we've seen in movies; Toby McGuire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland. All three share various key elements that we know makes Spider-Man; All named Peter Parker, they can climb walls & make webs, wear a red & blue, web pattern costume, have a date of some kind, and lost someone close to them. But while they do share these traits, all have their differences as well, excluding the villains they've fought and obvious timelines

Toby: Can make webs from his own wrists, lost his Uncle Ben to a mugger he didn't stop after getting jipped from an amateur wrestling match, and has cried a lot.

Andrew: Lost his Uncle Ben from not stopping a grocery store robber, parents were basically spies with a secret that somehow connected to Peter becoming Spider-Man, and lost his girlfriend.

Tom: Was more or less a surrogate son to Tony Stark, has much more advanced technology, is a part of a giant team.

Despite all of these differences, we can tell they are Spider-Man, just different, a form of evolving the character for a different audience and generation. Sure, they may make mistakes, some more noticeable than others, but I can see this applying to Buzz Lightyear and it's characters. So if Zurg is just an evil robot and not Buzz Lightyear's father, I can look at this and just say "Ok, they changed things a bit, but there's still plenty of things that are familiar"... hopefully.

I'm still excited to see Lightyear, though. And hey, if it's good enough, Pixar should make a Woody follow-up and make it like a more traditional spaghetti western. What do you all think? Are you also excited to see Lightyear in theaters? Was I overthinking and being overanalytical? Express your feelings and let's keep it civil in the comments.

Comments

[rikusorasephiroth]

I think a good majority of you may agree with this, but Lightyear may be an inworld equivalent to a live action movie in the Toy Story universe. You could say that this is somewhat similar to Kill Bill being a movie within a movie universe, albeit, probably more blatant.

Like how there were torn posters for The Hills Have Eyes in the Cabin in Evil Dead?

I WOULD say how Evil Dead was playing on the televisions in Nightmare on Elm Street, but that already has a canonical, in-universe explanation.