Last month, attendees were granted an exclusive preview of footage from Pixar’s upcoming Cars 3 at their Emeryville, California headquarters. It’s common knowledge at these early screenings that viewers are shown select portions, not the entire film, and the duration can vary significantly. Having experienced a similar preview for The Good Dinosaur in New York City with just three short scenes, this Cars 3 preview proved to be far more substantial.
Pixar presented approximately 40 minutes of footage to the visiting press, representing slightly less than half of the complete movie. These scenes included the dramatic and unsettling crash of race car icon Lightning McQueen on the track—a moment highlighted in the film’s teaser trailer—followed by his return to Radiator Springs. In Radiator Springs, McQueen seeks solace and reconnects with memories of the beloved Doc Hudson, voiced by the late Paul Newman, whose archived recordings Pixar skillfully integrated to provide Doc’s voice in flashback sequences. Viewers also witnessed McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, determinedly rejecting retirement and embarking on a training journey for a comeback, guided by his new coach, Cruz Ramirez, voiced by Cristela Alonzo. Cruz introduces advanced training technologies to modernize the veteran racer, but McQueen, resistant to these methods, takes Cruz on a journey to rediscover the roots of racing on dirt tracks.
The presented footage, with its focus on aging and the physical limitations it imposes on athletes, conveyed a noticeably more serious and somber tone compared to the previous Cars installments. Notably absent from any of the screened footage was any acknowledgment—or even a hint of the existence—of characters from Cars 2. This 2011 sequel took McQueen and his loyal friend Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) on a global espionage adventure. Deeply inspired by classic spy films, Cars 2 expanded the Cars universe in ways that were both bizarre—featuring a Popemobile, suggesting a form of automotive higher power—and largely unpopular. Adjusted for inflation, Cars 2 stands as Pixar’s second-lowest-grossing film and the sole Pixar movie to receive a negative rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Given the generally unfavorable reception of Cars 2, expectations for screen time for characters like super-spy Finn McMissile, agent Holly Shiftwell, or Italian racer Francesco Bernoulli in Cars 3 were low. However, their complete absence from the preview footage was surprising. Cars 3 almost proceeds as if Cars 2 never occurred. At the press event, screenwriter Mike Rich described Cars 3 as “the third act in the overall Cars story,” referring to Cars 1 as the story of a young McQueen and Cars 3 as the story of an older McQueen, pointedly omitting any mention of Cars 2. This raised questions about whether Cars 3 entirely disregards Cars 2 and if these characters might appear in the portion of the film not shown to the press.
During an interview with Cars 3‘s writers—Rich, Kiel Murray, and Bob Petersen, along with story supervisor Scott Morse—this very question was posed to them. Initially, the group attempted to deflect the question with humor, noting the presence of McQueen and Mater in both Cars 2 and Cars 3. However, when pressed specifically about the spy characters, Petersen clarified, “That was Mater’s world. We’re back to Radiator Springs and that team [in Cars 3], because this is McQueen’s story.”
Rich added, “That’s where it started for him, Radiator Springs. So we have him at this position in his life and his career.” Essentially, Finn, Holly, and company are sidelined, at least for Cars 3.
While the writers stopped short of confirming the complete absence of these characters from the movie—a brief cameo remains a possibility—it’s clear they won’t play significant roles in Cars 3. Furthermore, Mater’s role in the screened footage was also reduced. He made occasional appearances, but his traditional sidekick role is largely taken over by Cruz.
Despite its critical shortcomings, Cars 2 still generated half a billion dollars globally, and its merchandise was a massive revenue stream for Disney, bringing in $2 billion annually a few years prior. Therefore, the possibility of Mater and his spy allies returning in a future Cars 4 or in subsequent shorts isn’t entirely out of the question. For now, Cars 3 is set to premiere in theaters on June 17th.
