'Cars 3' Is The Darkest Trailer For Kids

Well, I didn't see this one coming. The new teaser trailer for Cars 3 hit the Internet Monday, and it is pretty dark. Here's what goes down in the teaser: A bevy of cars are zooming around the race track. Occasionally, you can hear a heart beating, as if watching race cars wasn't tense enough. The beating turns to pounding, then we witness Lightening McQueen screeching off into the side, presumably smashing into a wall. The next shot has the franchise's protagonist flipping through the air with fire and debris flying around him, and we hear stagnated breathing. The screen blackens again, declaring: "From this moment, everything will change."

Woah. What is going on?

It wouldn't be a huge stretch for the film to kill off or injure a character, though. Pixar has a history of sob-worthy scenes involving death. Like the first 15 minutes of Up, or the tragic loss of Bing Bong in Inside Out. Heck, this isn't even the franchise's first crash, as both The King and Doc Hudson suffered from accidents in the first film.

The trailer all but showcases a car crash that will either destroy or temporarily disable the film's main character, and that's the entire trailer. The film's plot is to set around Lightening McQueen's fall from stardom and his efforts to return to the racing world. Clearly, he's willing to put himself in danger to reach the top.

Maybe the trailer indicates that the next installment of the series will take on a decidedly more adult tone. After all, people get in car crashes every day, and perhaps it's good for children to realize the consequences of unsafe driving. In any case, watch the daunting teaser below and determine for yourself if everything will change for the series from this moment forward.

Images: Pixar (1); Giphy (1)