Despite the passing ofCarl Weatherslast year, hisToy Storycharacter Combat Carl will return forToy Story 5. Deadline reports thatGhostbustersstarErnie Hudsonwill step in for Weathers in the upcoming Pixar sequel.Toy Story 5is set to hit theaters on July 28, 2025.
The military action figure Combat Carl was a loving takeoff on Weathers' many action roles, fromPredatortoAction JacksontoForce 10 From Navarone. However, Hudson is no stranger to action himself; his most iconic role is the blue-collar Ghostbuster Winston Zeddemore, which he played in both originalGhostbustersmovies and their two latter-day sequels. He has also starred in the high-octane actionersLeviathan,The Crow,Congo, andThe Substitute. Hudson is an experienced voice actor, as well; he voiced Cyborg inThe Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardiansin the 1980s, and has gone on to provide voices forTransformers: Prime,Infinity Train, andStar Wars: The Bad Batch. Ironically, the one animated role he didn’t play is Winston Zeddemore: he auditioned for the part onThe Real Ghostbusters, butArsenio Hallgot the role, instead.
Who Is Combat Carl?
Introduced in the 2013 Halloween specialToy Story of Terror!, Combat Carl is aG.I. Joe-like action figure who invariably refers to himself in the third person. He and a smaller-scale Combat Carl (voiced by a pitched-up Weathers and referred to as Combat Carl Jr.) are residents of a motel, where they were stolen by the manager’s trained pet iguana to be sold on the internet. Both Carls escaped, living secretly in the motel until they met Jessie (Joan Cusack), helping her and her friends escape the manager. Combat Carl reappeared inToy Story 4, assisting Bo Peep (Annie Potts). Weathers also voiced the character in a bonus featureToy Story of Terror’s DVD release, a mock public service announcement mocking similar segments from theG.I. Joe: A Real American Herocartoon series of the 1980s.
So far, plot details aboutToy Story 5have been sparse, butTom HanksandTim Allenwill return as Woody and Buzz Lightyear, respectively. Allen recently revealed that, after parting at the end ofToy Story 4,Woody and Buzz will reunite. The film is directed byAndrew Stanton, the helmer ofFinding NemoandWALL-E; although he wrote all four previousToy Storyfilms, this will be his first time directing one.
Toy Story 5will bereleased on June 17, 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
Toy Story 5
Source:Deadline
