In the latest trailers and interviews, Lightyear has been hinting that Zurg isn’t the Toy Story spinoff’s real villain. Lightyear tells the story of the astronaut Buzz Lightyear, who becomes the inspiration for the Buzz toy in the Toy Story films. In Toy Story, Buzz’s arch-nemesis is the Evil Emperor Zurg, a tyrannical toy bent on galactic conquest. Though Lightyear is also set to feature Zurg as the antagonist – now voiced by James Brolin - both his redesign and the crew’s secrecy around his role suggest there is more than meets the eye to him.
The Emperor Zurg toy, as he appears in Toy Story 2, is a parody of Darth Vader, complete with a homage to The Empire Strikes Back where Zurg announces to Buzz that he is his father. This kind of portrayal is continued in the animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, where Emperor Zurg is shown as a tyrannical alien ruler of the Planet Z, hellbent on galactic conquest. However, Lightyear’s "real" version of the character is more like a giant robot, with mechanical stylings taken from anime and no sign of being Buzz's father. Despite the radical shift away from the Toy Story alien, Art Director Greg Politz has reassured audiences that he will not just be a “mindless automaton” but a “fully-rounded character just like the rest of [the] cast” (via IGN).
Details have been scarce beyond this though, with Zurg not speaking in any of the trailers, and Producer Galyn Susman remarking that talking about Zurg would be a Lightyear spoiler. All she gives away is the fact he is “angry about something.” Given the change of the character into a robot and the secrecy around his motivations, it seems likely that there may be someone else behind Zurg. Robots have to be created, programmed or controlled by someone beyond them, and that person might just be the true main antagonist of Lightyear.
The cast of Lightyear includes a swathe of new characters who could all secretly be controlling Zurg – Keke Palmer’s Izzy Hawthorne, Taika Waititi’s Mo Morrison, and Dale Souls’ Darby Steel are all new faces to the franchise who could be hiding secrets. Similarly, having an aged version of Buzz’s best friend, Uzo Aduba’s Alisha Hawthorne, as the main villain controlling Zurg in Lightyear could offer a personal touch to the conflict – especially if she has to face her own daughter. Then there’s Isiah Whitlock Jr.’s Commander Burnside, of whom very little is known. Alternatively, Buzz’s cute robot cat Sox may also secretly harbor malicious intent. Anything is possible.
Whoever or whatever Zurg ends up being, the signs are all pointing towards him being a version of the character dramatically different to previous portrayals. With Lightyear reimagining Buzz as a real hero in a hardboiled sci-fi adventure, it would make sense to add a new level of depth to Zurg too. After paying tribute to Empire Strikes Back with Zurg in the Toy Story films, maybe Lightyear will do the same by delivering a similar shocker of a villain twist.