Woody Is Back in 'Toy Story 5,' Leaving Many 'Toy Story 4' Fans Confused

More than 30 years after the first Toy Story movie hit theaters, we're set to watch another installment in the franchise when Toy Story 5 hits theaters in the summer of 2026. Following the first teaser for that movie, which suggests that the toys will come face-to-face with a tablet for children in the new film, many have questions about how the end of Toy Story 4 might impact this installment.

Notably, that movie ends with Woody, the main character of this franchise, leaving his fellow toys behind to find more personal fulfillment. Many now want to understand how he wound up back in the fold. Here's what we know.

The first teaser didn't offer much explanation for how Woody might return to his fellow toys after leaving them behind. Thankfully, the movie's director, Pete Docter, has already explained Woody's return in this new installment.

According to Screen Rant, Pete shared details about the plot of this new movie during a presentation about Pixar's upcoming slate.

The movie is set to be more focused on Jesse, who has become the leader of the toys in Woody's absence. The new tablet, called Lily Pad, aims to separate Bonnie from the rest of her toys and encourage her to be more social. When confronted with this new challenge, Jesse decides to ask Woody to come back and help his old friends. That's how Woody winds up back in the action, although it's unclear whether he'll become Bonnie's toy again at the end or not.

The last three Toy Story movies have all felt like they might be the end of the road for this franchise, but, in part because these movies are so profitable, they also keep making more of them. It seems possible, then, that Woody could simply return to Bo and basically be where he was at the end of Toy Story 4, or that the character could learn something new in this installment.

It's also not clear why Jesse feels that she needs Woody's help to face this challenge. It's certainly a convenient reason to get one of the franchise's main characters back in the fold, but the question is whether it will feel like a logical reason within the plot of the movie.

What is encouraging about what we've heard about Toy Story 5 so far is that after being largely sidelined since Toy Story 2, Jesse is once again going to have a more prominent role in this installment.

For now, though, there's still plenty we don't know about Toy Story 5, including how quickly Woody might wind up back in the movie. Tom Hanks has been cashing Toy Story checks for more than 30 years now, and it seems like he's going to keep playing this famous toy cowboy as long as Pixar will have him.