Fans of the Cars franchise were shocked when the first teaser showed us our hero, Lightning McQueen, in a major wreck. And that's how the movie starts. Needless to say, some fans could not believe it. However, according to producer Kevin Reher who spoke at a recent Cars 3 media day, there was one Cars fan who was especially shaken by the event. So much so that he hatched a plot for vengeance. According to Reher...
We have a favorite story where an eight-year-old wrote us and said, 'Are you really killing Lightning McQueen? Because if you are, I want to buy the toy that kills him, so that I can kill him.'
It just goes to show that some people take their fandom personally. While most of us probably didn't devolve into thoughts of homicide, it's true that most of us were probably a bit surprised by what we saw in the first teaser for Cars 3. Lighting McQueen flying through the air, already seriously damaged, and on his way to crashing back into the ground. It's a much darker image than we've ever seen in the Cars films, to be sure.
And if Cars isn't your thing, there may be some other pop culture subject matter that you're so invested in that a potential death of a man character could set you off. There are absolutely internet forums full of angry fans responding to changes in their favorite characters or stories. This kid is just starting early.
The toy that the young boy is apparently after is that of Jackson Storm, voiced by Armie Hammer. He's the primary antagonist of Cars 3 and the best of the next generation racers that leave Lightning McQueen in the dust. Having said that, it's unclear exactly how much Jackson Storm is really the "bad guy" of Cars 3. I've seen a large portion of the film, thanks to the press day set up by Pixar, and while Jackson Storm is most certainly not a nice person, what I saw stopped short of making him a real villain. Instead, the movie seems focused on Lightning's struggle to improve himself on his own terms, not be comparing himself to other racers. Jackson Storm felt more like an obstacle than an adversary, though to be clear there's still a lot of the movie I did not see, so things could certainly change.
We're guessing that Lightning McQueen will almost certainly survive Cars 3. The character is incredibly popular with fans and with Pixar too, and actually killing off one of their main characters is a move that we doubt even Pixar would be willing to do. While it would certainly be an emotional moment, something Pixar is one of the best studios in the world at creating, I doubt even Pixar is willing to go to those lengths.
