Spoilers! How the 'Toy Story 5' ending hints at a sixth movie

Spoilers! We're discussing the ending of "Toy Story 5" (in theaters now), so turn away now if you haven't seen it.

In an era where movies are practically obligated to end by teasing what's next, "Toy Story" is a rarity: Since 1999, every installment has seemed like the definitive ending.

That was most notably true of "Toy Story 3," which capped the trilogy in such a satisfying fashion that many fans were outraged a fourth movie was made. Then, when "Toy Story 4" came around, it offered its own, equally satisfying conclusion, and it once again seemed the series was over.

Well, here we are again with "Toy Story 5." But the most surprising thing about the new film is that it breaks from this tradition as the first of the sequels that doesn't play like a finale. Another outing actually feels likely, and the way the last two movies shook out may hint at what the focus will be next time.

Let's break down how "Toy Story 5" ends and where the series could go from here.

How does 'Toy Story 5' end?

Compared to previous "Toy Story" movies, the new one places a surprising amount of emphasis on the human characters, with the main focus being Jessie trying to help Bonnie make friends. Bonnie's new device Lilypad initially causes problems with this, leading her to be brutally bullied in a group chat and shamed into rejecting her toys.

The movie concludes the issue wasn't technology, but that Bonnie simply needed to find like-minded people who are, no offense, huge dorks like her. Lilypad ends up being pretty useful in that regard, so she and the toys team up to connect Bonnie with Blaze, a nearby farm girl who also loves playing with toys. In a sweet final sequence, the two have a cute playdate where they act out Buzz and Jessie's wedding.

Other than Bonnie having a new bestie and Buzz and Jessie getting married, the status quo is essentially unchanged, in contrast to the way the last two installments shook things up in a massive way with their endings. The toys are still with Bonnie, albeit with newfound job security after she embraces her love of play. And Woody returns to Bo Peep, though given that Jessie and Buzz can call him up any time, he can rejoin the fray whenever a new sequel happens.

Are there any credits scenes in 'Toy Story 5'?

After the Taylor Swift credits song ends, we cut to a schoolyard, where a child is sitting alone when one of the new, high-tech Buzz Lightyear toys that washed ashore on an island in the opening scene flies in to join him.

All the other Buzz toys follow suit, dropping into the playground like soldiers descending into battle, and the rest of the kids all excitedly grab one to play with.

Having found owners, the Buzz toys say their mission is accomplished, but a nearby child pulls another toy out of a backpack: Emperor Zurg, Buzz's nemesis. "We meet again, my son," Zurg says, a payoff to a gag earlier in the movie where the "real" Buzz tells the other toys Zurg is their dad (itself a callback to a "Star Wars" spoof from "Toy Story 2").

There isn't a second credits scene, but moviegoers who stick around until the very end will see Lilypad performing an amusing little rap with some of the other toys, including Bad Bunny's Pizza with Sunglasses, as the credits finish scrolling.

Will there be a 'Toy Story 6'?

The fact that "Toy Story 5" doesn't really wrap anything up strongly suggests a sixth movie will happen, and director Andrew Stanton recently revealed he sees it as the second in a trilogy.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Stanton described "Toy Story 3" as the "end of the Andy years" but noted "we've got another trilogy with Bonnie." This implies "Toy Story 6" would be a finale like "Toy Story 3," potentially bringing the toys' time with Bonnie to an end.

Based on how long Pixar generally waits between sequels, though, don't expect to see "Toy Story 6" until the 2030s, after we first get "Incredibles 3," "Coco 2" and likely "Inside Out 3."

What will 'Toy Story 6' be about?

That hasn't been confirmed, but we do have a theory.

If "Toy Story 4" through "6" comprises a trilogy, so far, every installment has centered on one character from the original three movies. "Toy Story 4" was about Woody grappling with empty nest syndrome, while "Toy Story 5" was about Jessie healing her trauma from being abandoned by Emily, discovering her first owner really did care about her and even named her daughter after her.

That leaves one character overdue for this kind of closure: Buzz Lightyear.

Buzz and his journey to accept that he's a toy was the most compelling storyline of the original "Toy Story," but since then, the franchise has never been totally sure what to do with him. He's mostly been a comedic sidekick since "Toy Story 2," and the sequels haven't given him the kind of rich development that Woody, and now Jessie, have had.

So "Toy Story 6" could return to where it all began by putting the spotlight on Buzz. What the story would be is anyone's guess, but "Toy Story 5" sets up some rich territory to explore with all the high-tech Buzz toys in the mix. Might this cause Buzz to feel like he has no purpose now that there's a newer, more advanced model of him around − essentially, a mirror of Woody fearing being replaced when Buzz arrived in the first film?

Once Buzz deals with this, the series' three primary characters would have each received satisfying endings, and "Toy Story" could officially conclude there − no, seriously, for real this time.