LIGHTYEAR

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

The opening text states that in 1995, Andy Davis received a Buzz Lightyear doll based on his favorite movie, and this is that movie.

Captain Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) of Star Command is exploring the planet T’Kani Prime with his best friend, Commander Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba). Buzz sees himself as having to take on all of his tasks without help from anyone else, and Alisha makes fun of him for how overdramatic he is with his job (narrating his actions and keeping a captain’s log). They bring their rookie, Featheringhamstan (Bill Hader), even though Buzz is annoyed at having him tag along. The three are attacked by sentient vines, forcing them to retreat to their ship, which Buzz calls “The Turnip”. Buzz has to save Featheringhamstan after he gets his leg snagged by a vine. Afterward, he takes control of the ship, but as he tries to fly upward, the ship’s AI IVAN (Mary McDonald-Lewis) warns Buzz that he will hit a mountain, though he is confident he can get them off the planet. Buzz causes the ship to hit the mountain and causes them to crash.

The entire crew is left stranded on the planet with no way out since their hyperspace crystal power source has been destroyed. Buzz blames himself for his mistake and tells Alisha he accepts whatever punishment she has to give him. She instead decides to entrust Buzz with the efforts to get them off the planet.

Star Command sets up a colony on the planet as they have been attempting to recreate the power source. Once they gather the fuel necessary, Buzz makes a hyperspace crystal and proceeds with a test. Buzz blasts off into space and is about to engage into hyperspace, even though he is once again warned by IVAN against doing so. Buzz hits an unstable speed and eventually makes his way back to the colony. However, when he greets Airman Diaz (Efren Ramirez), he learns that four years have passed due to time dilation from the speed he traveled.

Buzz reunites with Alicia and learns that she is engaged to a woman named Kiko. She also gives him a robot cat companion called Sox (Peter Sohn). Buzz chooses to continue with the hyperspace missions, even though Alisha discourages him and says he should just continue working with them there. Buzz is determined to fix his mistake and proceeds with the test. Each time, he misses four more years on T’Kani Prime and comes in during new phases of Alisha’s life, such as her pregnancy, raising her son with Kiko, and eventually her reaching old age. One day, Buzz returns and finds Alisha’s office empty. She left him a holographic message as she was bedridden, knowing she would not be alive by the time Buzz came back. She is seen with her granddaughter Izzy, who says she wants to be a space ranger just like her. Buzz mourns his friend before he meets the new Commander Cal Burnside (Isaiah Whitlock Jr). He informs Buzz that they have canceled the mission to leave T’Kani Prime and have chosen to stay in order to set up a defense shield around the colony.

Buzz goes back to his room that he still shares with Sox, who has been perfecting the formula for the hyperspace crystals. Two Star Command operatives show up to decommission Sox, but Buzz breaks out with Sox and hijacks a ship. With Sox’s help, he engages in another hyperspace test, finally reaching 100%.

Buzz and Sox end up even further in the future and see the defense shield has already been set up. They crash further outside the area and encounter an older Izzy (Keke Palmer). She warns Buzz about the invading robot ships that have been attacking the colony, with the mothership hovering above in the sky. Izzy brings Buzz and Sox to meet her other teammates on the defense forces, new recruit Mo Morrison (Taika Waititi) and convict Darby Steel (Dale Soules). They are attacked by a robot from the ship, and Buzz attempts to take it on by himself. Mo shoots a harpoon at it and brings it down. The team decides to work together to track a new fuel source from the robot ship.

Buzz attempts to split himself off from the group after arriving at the destination. He stops with Sox when he finds his old spacesuit and stops to try it on. Izzy, Mo, and Darby rejoin him and offer to help, despite Buzz’s reluctance. He gives them their own spacesuits and has them use stealth mode to get past some large bug creatures in there. Unfortunately, Buzz forgets to tell them that there’s a time limit on the stealth mode, and they are forced to fight the bugs. They succeed in gathering the fuel source and outrunning the bugs, but their ship gets damaged in the escape, and Buzz reprimands the three, especially after learning that Izzy is scared of space, despite being a space ranger.

The crew has to get a replacement part for the ship, and it is in a nearby building overlooking a cliff. The leader of the robots, Zurg (James Brolin), goes after Buzz and tries to get him to join him, but Darby shoots Zurg down. The team finds the coil they need for the ship, but they get themselves trapped in containment cones, which then get stuck together. Buzz guides them to freedom, but the building they are in starts to crumble over the edge. Buzz nearly falls over until the other three make a chain to pull him up. They board the ship and get it running as they try to outrun the robots. Izzy accidentally ejects the fuel source and causes them to crash again. One of the robots grabs the fuel source and teleports back to the ship. Izzy laments her failure. Buzz also gets upset at himself because he feels responsible for the whole mess and for not living up to Alisha’s expectations of him as the one to get them off the planet. Izzy assures him that Alisha had a great life on the planet and that her whole family has enjoyed their time there.

Just before they can keep moving, Zurg shows up to grab Buzz and teleport him back to the ship. Zurg reveals himself to be an older Buzz from 50 years into the future. He ended up in an alternate timeline after achieving hyperspace travel, but Burnside’s forces went after him and labeled him a fugitive. He is trying to use the crystal to go back in time and prevent himself from ever making the mistake that got them stranded on the planet. Although Buzz is initially onboard with the idea, he realizes it will mean Alisha will never have had the life that she had, and Izzy and the others might not exist if they fix the mistake. Buzz tries to take the crystal, but Zurg gets his robots to capture Buzz.

Izzy, Mo, and Darby work together to get their ship up to Zurg’s ship to rescue Buzz. Zurg’s Sox helps Buzz get out, but Zurg stomps on that Sox and goes after Buzz, who rigs the ship to explode. Izzy overcomes her fear to help save Buzz while Mo and Darby fight off the robots. The heroes get out just as the ship blows up. Buzz attempts to escape with the crystal, but Zurg catches up to him. Just as he attempts to finish off Buzz, the space ranger ejects himself and activates his suit’s wings. He yells “Not today, Zurg!” and fires a laser blast at the crystal, destroying it along with Zurg. Buzz catches up with the others and helps them land safely. They are soon found by Burnside and his crew.

After Burnside reprimands Buzz for breaking so many rules, he commends him for stopping the robot threat and assigns him to the head of the defense forces and allows him to choose his team. He tells Burnside he wants to keep working with Izzy, Mo, and Darby.

Buzz, Izzy, Mo, Darby, and Sox are given new suits and their own ship as Burnside informs them of a signal in another quadrant that could be dangerous. The crew gets together and blasts off, to infinity…and beyond!

Buzz Lightyear is a cocky space ranger who believes he can accomplish all the toughest missions on his own. He ends up stranding his crew on a planet, forcing them to colonize it. Buzz makes it his mission to fix his mistake and get them off the planet by perfecting hyperspace travel. This ends up causing Buzz to jump across many years throughout the future, making him miss time with his closest friend and colleague, Alisha Hawthorne.

The newly appointed Commander Burnside chooses to cancel the mission to leave the planet so they can stay and set up a defense shield. Buzz steals a ship along with robot cat Sox after he helps Buzz perfect the formula for hyperspace travel. They end up 22 years further into the future and meet Alisha's granddaughter Izzy, who is also a space ranger. The colony has since been invaded by a robot army led by a giant robot called Zurg. Buzz and Sox team up with Izzy and her teammates Mo and Darby to find new fuel source and fight against the robots.

After creating a new hyperspace crystal, Buzz is captured by Zurg, who is revealed to be an older Buzz from an alternate timeline that escaped from Burnside after he was labeled a fugitive. He is attempting to use the crystal to travel back in time and prevent his mistake, but Buzz realizes this means Alisha will never have had the life she had on the planet, and Izzy or the others will never have existed. Buzz works together with his friends to destroy Zurg's ship and make off with the crystal. When Zurg goes after Buzz again, Buzz destroys the crystal, along with Zurg.

Buzz returns to Star Command with his teammates as heroes, and they become an official team to go out and defend the galaxy.