Cars 2 was the first Pixar Cars film to feature Lightning McQueen in an international spy adventure.
Released in 2011, Cars 2 sends Lightning and Mater to races in Japan, Italy, and England. Mater becomes involved in a spy mission after being mistaken for an undercover agent, while Lightning competes in the World Grand Prix.
The film expands the franchise beyond Radiator Springs and domestic stock-car racing. It introduces British agents Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell, along with an espionage plot involving an alternative fuel and a conspiracy surrounding the race series.
Cars 2 was directed by John Lasseter and Brad Lewis. Unlike the first film, it places Mater at the center of the action and gives the story a globe-spanning structure. Cars 3 later returned to a more focused racing and character-development story centered on McQueen’s changing career.