Cars 2 was the first Pixar Cars film to feature a major spy-adventure storyline.
Released in 2011, Cars 2 follows Mater after he is mistaken for an American secret agent. He works with Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell to investigate sabotage linked to the World Grand Prix and the alternative fuel Allinol.
The original Cars, released in 2006, is primarily a road-trip and personal-growth story about Lightning McQueen’s time in Radiator Springs. Cars 3, released in 2017, returns to a more focused sports drama about McQueen, Cruz Ramirez, and the rise of Jackson Storm. Cars 2 is therefore distinct in genre as well as setting.
The spy plot takes the characters to Tokyo, Porto Corsa, and London. Mater’s accidental involvement drives much of the comedy, while the espionage storyline supplies the film’s central mystery. The short-form Cars Toons series also includes playful adventures, but it is not a feature film in the Cars trilogy.