Tim Allen's Future as Buzz Lightyear Revealed

Fans were in a tizzy after it was announced that Chris Evans was tapped to voice Buzz Lightyear in the upcoming Lightyear film instead of Tim Allen, who voiced the original version of the character in the Toy Story films. Even though Allen won't be pulling Buzz duties for the Lightyear film, you'll likely still see him connected to any future Disney projects concerning the character. TMZ reported that the Last Man Standing star still has a working relationship with Disney. 

Thanks to his relationship with Disney, there's still a chance that Allen will be involved in Lightyear-related projects going forward. According to the publication, Allen will be working with Disney when it comes to any projects related to the Buzz Lightyear that fans first saw in Toy Story back in 1995. Allen's connection to the brand dispels a rumor about why he wasn't included in Disney's Lightyear, which will be released in 2022 and revolves around the character's origins. 

It was rumored that Allen was not asked to voice Buzz in the upcoming film due to his political beliefs (the actor has supported former President Donald Trump). However, TMZ reported that this wasn't the case when it came to the decision to cast Evans in the role. Instead, Disney reportedly wanted a fresh voice since fans will be seeing the character from a different perspective. During a recent interview with Collider, Lightyear director Angus MacLane opened up about having Evans voice the iconic action figure. 

MacLane said that he wanted Lightyear to have "gravitas to it and a seriousness to it, but also have an actor who could bring comedy with that seriousness." He went on to say that Evans was the only choice to help bring that vision to life. The director said that it was "very clear from the get-go" that the Avengers star would be the one to voice Buzz, adding, "It was like, 'If you were gonna make a legitimate sci-fi film about Buzz Lightyear, who would you get? Well, Chris Evans.' You need someone that has that star power. If it had to be live-action, who would do it? He can do both. Although that chin would be so weird in live-action. You could never get around that."