Summary

Toy Story 5 will heavily focus on Jessie, with Combat Carl, voiced by Ernie Hudson, playing a significant role.
Pixar recasting Combat Carl after Carl Weathers' passing signifies bigger plans for the character in the upcoming film.
Combat Carl's integration in the storyline could possibly occur through Woody's plot, providing an exciting twist for audiences.

Pixar hasn't given away too many details about the upcoming Toy Story 5 movie, which will be released on June 19, 2026. However, it has been confirmed that the movie will be heavily focused on Jessie this time around, with Tim Allen having spoken positively about the film and what Pixar has put together for the project.

The Toy Story franchise is one of the biggest in animation history, and there's plenty of buzz about what Toy Story 5 will look like and where Pixar will take the plot. Details are slowly emerging about the project as the actors begin to record their lines, which only increases the excitement.

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By Matthew Wilkinson

While there are certain characters, such as Buzz, Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye, who audiences will expect to see in the film, it appears that Combat Carl is one that can now be added to that list. That's because Deadline has reported that Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson will be taking over from the late Carl Weathers' voice role in Toy Story 5. Weathers had voiced the toy two times before his death in February 2024. Combat Carl first appeared in the 2013 TV special Toy Story of Terror! While he was also involved in Toy Story 4.

This character is a GI Joe-style figure, but he's likely one that a lot of Toy Story fans don't know too much about. That's because he only had a small role in Toy Story 4, with three different versions of the character appearing to assist Bo Peep, all sporting different appearances. However, he did have a major role in Toy Story of Terror!, proving the potential of the character within this franchise, which would be a lot of fun to see fleshed out in more detail.

The fact that Pixar has gone to the effort of recasting the role after Weathers' passing is interesting because there would've been few eyebrows raised if Combat Carl wasn't part of Toy Story 5, simply due to him not being one of the significant characters up until this point. However, the decision to bring Hudson into the Toy Story franchise is a sign that Pixar has bigger plans for the character this time around. Each Toy Story movie tends to bring in new characters, with the spotlight being evenly shared between them throughout the films, and this time, it could be Combat Carl's moment to shine and show what he's able to deliver.

It will be interesting to see how the character is integrated, but it would make the most sense to come via Woody's storyline. He is spending time with Bo Peep right now, and she was with several versions of Carl in the previous movie. It has been confirmed that Buzz and Woody will reunite in this film, and perhaps he will be important in making that happen. Either way, audiences will get to see the character in Toy Story 5, and this time, it will be the iconic Hudson who is providing the voice-over work for the role, putting his spin on things.

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