Toy Story 5 (2026) is just under two years away. Though it might seem like lightyears away, we’re in no position to complain seeing as most of us were dead-against the idea of a fourth movie, let alone a fifth. On the other hand, there are many fans who don’t want this series to end (by the looks of things, your wish has probably already been granted!).
While Toy Story 3 (2011) wrapped things up nicely for Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), and the rest of the roundup, Toy Story 4 (2019) mostly retconned that ending, giving us a story so contrived, any kid with a half-decent imagination could have probably come up with a better script. Still, the film grossed over $1B worldwide.
In other words, Toy Story 5 was inevitable. But where else can the franchise go from here? It already tried going “to infinity and beyond” with the spinoff-of-sorts Lightyear (2022), the CG-animated movie centered around the astronaut Buzz Lightyear and not the action figure, but that crashed and burned harder than Buzz’s starship in the movie.
Related: ‘Toy Story’: “Deleted Scene” Shows Andy Finding Out Woody Is Alive
While the director Angus MacLane accused trolls of “review-bombing” the film for featuring a same-sex kiss scene, it’s unlikely the film would have fared much better at the box office. For starters, fans didn’t take well to Tim Allen being side-lined so that Chris Evans could be cast into the role of Buzz Lightyear — even Allen himself didn’t stay quiet on the matter. Maybe someone should have told him that he is a “child’s play thing” and not the Buzz Lightyear.
Of course, it’s a shame the film didn’t do well ($226.4M against its $200M budget), as its success would have likely led to other similar Toy Story spinoffs, perhaps one centering on the “real” Woody, with his sister Jessie, dog Slinky, pig Hamm, love interest, Bo Peep, and sworn enemy Stinky Pete. But there are plenty of characters from the movies who deserve their own screentime (the Potato Heads, Barbie and Ken, Jessie and Bullseye, and so on).
Now, several characters from the Toy Story movies have their own spinoff of sorts.
Though it isn’t a Toy Story installment, an upcoming FPS (first-person shooter) video game titled “Green Hawk Platoon” (TBA) features the Green Army Men (the iconic plastic toy soldiers) — a version of them at least — from the Toy Story movies. Like many characters in those films, such as Mr. Potato Head, the Green Army Men are not exclusive to the franchise — they existed long before the original 1995 film as actual toys here in the real world.
Watch the trailer for the new game below, per IGN:
Related: ‘Toy Story’ Theory Suggests Woody Was Destined to be Evil
It looks like “Green Hawk Platoon” is highly comparable to the Green Army Men from the Toy Story movies in more ways than one. Not only does the game revolve in its entirety around these characters, but they’re also toys that have come to life and are waging war against other teams for “control of the kitchen, bedroom, or backyard!”
There are many obvious nods and winks to Toy Story in the trailer, too, particularly the end-reveal that shows that these soldiers — who believe they’re actually fighting in a real war, just like the Green Army Men in the movies — are simply being played with by a young child.
Sound familiar?
“We want you,” the official blurb reads, echoing that iconic Uncle Sam military propaganda poster, adding, “to play this game!”
“Ever play with those little green plastic army guys as a kid?” it continues. “Well, so did we. We just wanted to bring these guys back and give them a make-over. Yes, there have been a few games out there that feature these little plastic dudes, but we weren’t able to find any game with the mechanics we wanted. We wanted a huge, multiplayer Battle Royale with the same feel as Pub-G or Fortnite, but also have elements of ‘Arma 2’, ‘Battlefield’ and ‘COD’ [‘Call of Duty’] franchises.”
It sounds pretty awesome — and if you’re a fan of the Green Army Men, you won’t need to go all the way to Disneyland to get your fix!
Players can expect to man “tanks, jeeps, helicopters, planes, controllable guns, turrets, parachutes, and even grappling hooks and rockets,” while positions include “Riflemen, Snipers, Heavy Machine-gunners, Grenadiers, Medics, and Rocket Men.”
But then it doesn’t matter what your position is — a good soldier never leaves a man behind!
The game has no release date but the official website states that the developers are aiming for the PC (Epic & Steam versions) Early Access version to be ready by Q4 2024 or Q1 2025. Xbox and PlayStation versions will follow shortly after the final release.
Visit the official “Green Hawk Platoon” website for more information.
Whether or not any actual Toy Story characters will end up getting their own spinoffs remains to be seen. Currently, the fifth film is the only project in the works, and, unsurprisingly, there are no plans for a sequel to Pixar’s Lightyear.
Toy Story 5 will be released in theaters worldwide on June 19, 2026.
Are you excited about Toy Story 5 or do you think the series has gone too far already? Would you prefer spinoffs featuring certain characters, or weren’t you a fan of Lightyear either? Let us know what you think down below!
