Meet The Lightyear Voice Cast

Lightyear, which serves as a meta-prequel to the Toy Story franchise, doesn’t show Buzz Lightyear as a sentient toy. Instead, it features Buzz as a fictional spacefaring hero, and is pitched as the movie that inspired Andy to buy a Buzz action figure in the first place. (In a bid to clear up the confusion, the studio even released a rendering of Andy and his toys seeing Lightyear in a theater.)

The story follows Buzz as he explores the planet Tikana Prime, a journey that’s meant to be brief — but due to the effects of time dilution and relativity, Buzz ends up leaping six decades into the future. There, he finds the planet has been invaded by a mysterious tyrant, Emperor Zurg, and his troops. Buzz, along with the planet’s defense forces, plan to take back control of Tikana Prime by attacking Emperor Zurg’s army.

Below, learn more about the Lightyear cast and the new (or returning) characters they play.

Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear

Though Tim Allen famously played Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story films, Chris Evans is the voice behind the character in the new film — which makes sense, given that Allen played the toy, and this movie is not about the toy.

Per Collider, Evans said during a press conference that the new movie presents Buzz Lightyear “in a slightly more nuanced interpretation,” adding, “The Buzz that we all know is obviously a toy, and as a toy, there are certain ways that they can move through the world without the weight that we may carry … The impacts of the choices that we make as people are a little bit more consequential, and it’s fun to put Buzz against that backdrop.”

Keke Palmer as Izzy Hawthorne

In Lightyear, Keke Palmer voices Izzy, a defense force member whose grandmother, Alisha, was once Buzz’s best friend. Palmer has said she relates to Izzy’s love for her grandma. “She wants to make her family proud, which is something that I think we all can relate to, and the fact that she’s not afraid to pivot. I really admired that about her. And I feel like she displays so many great leadership qualities that sometimes we overshadow,” she said at the press conference. “She empowers others. I just love the character.”

James Brolin as Emperor Zurg

James Brolin plays Emperor Zurg, the leader of the robotic army invading Tikana Prime. Brolin told reporters at the press conference that he landed the villainous part because his voice sounded “nasty,” but added that the role was surprisingly difficult to nail. “I walked in there cold,” the 81-year-old actor said. “[T]he night before I got a sheet with some of the dialogue and none of it quite made sense. It was one of five sessions. I thought, ‘I’ll knock this out in a half-hour.’ Four hours of sweat later, with each session, [director] Angus [Maclane] was saying, ‘Try it like this’ … I had to piece it together.”

Taika Waititi as Mo Morrison

In Lightyear, Taika Waititi voices Mo Morrison, a green but well-meaning recruit in Tikana Prime’s defense force. The 46-year-old filmmaker told reporters that he related to Mo’s naïveté — a feeling he definitely experienced in his own early career. “I was a little aimless and trying to focus on something. I was interested in a thousand different things, and I wanted to do everything all at once, but I never really finished my projects,” Waititi said during the press conference. “So, yeah, it was easy to tap into that because I feel like I’m someone who works a lot, but also wrestles with this part of me who doesn’t wanna work at all, ever again.”

Uzo Aduba as Alisha Hawthorne

Uzo Aduba portrays commanding officer Alisha Hawthorne — Buzz’s onetime best friend, and Izzy’s grandmother. Aduba told Screenrant earlier this month that it was “such a gift” to be part of the extended Toy Story universe. “Everybody in the movie is just incredible as well,” she added. “And to be a piece of the story, a piece of this world we've come to know for over 20 years, is a treat.”

Bill Hader as Featheringhamstan

Early on in the film, Bill Hader makes a cameo as Featheringhamstan, a recruit paired with Buzz and Alisha during their initial exploration of Tikana Prime.