"Chris Evans has that gravitas and an inexplicable movie-star quality for Buzz Lightyear," says director Angus MacLane

Avengers star Chris Evans is taking over the reins of the popular Pixar character Buzz Lightyear. Evans replaces Tim Allen in the upcoming Toy Story spin-off Lightyear, an animation film that focuses entirely on the smug yet charming space ranger. Buzz Lightyear first appeared in the 1995 film Toy Story as of one Andy's, the series' human protagonist, most special toys and the upcoming film "journals the strengths, weaknesses, and many motivations" of the character.

Director Angus MacLane, who has previously worked on multiple spin-off films of the Toy Story franchise, stated that Lightyear is more like a prequel that presents Buzz as a low-key, cool, and clever character. Recent reports have revealed that Lightyear opens with a title card to tell the audience that little boy Andy buys the Buzz Lightyear toy in 1995 after spotting it in his favorite movie, and this is that favorite movie. Explaining this further, director Angus MacLane says that he wished to make a big-budget popcorn film that Andy, his friends, and millions of others watched and enjoyed. 

As far as the plot is concerned, the film follows space ranger Buzz who's marooned on a lonely planet and is desperately trying to get out of there. He takes help from recruits and robots but things only get trickier with time. Will he be able to travel back home safely? MacLane has also employed time dilation to add a sci-fi twist to the film and make things all the more exciting.

And the same concept of time dilation is also apparent in the case of Chris Evans' most popular on-screen character, Captain America. Evans replaces Tim Allen as the voice of Buzz Lightyear and for Angus MacLane, the choice was easy because he reckons the Knives Out star is the complete package. "Chris has the gravitas in his performance and a square sense of humor that is appropriate for the character. He has that inexplicable movie star quality that our larger-than-life character needed," said MacLane in a recent interview. Chris Evans too expressed immense delight over landing this opportunity, stating that the voice role is a dream come true. Lightyear hits the screens across the globe on June 17.