The lighting does set the mood of the scene as well. The way that the skies were cloudy in the first teaser was perfect in making the scene more dramatic and realistic and less cartoony to make it more serious.

I remember before the movie came out thinking that lightning would crash twice, because the teaser shows it being daytime, while the preview is night.

I think the teaser version was meant to be in a deleted scene where McQueen was dreaming about the crash. Hence the darker tone and light, as in that moment he probably felt like he was gonna die. And the raised damage could be how HE FELT IT vs how it actually went

Interesting to see the different versions of Lighting McQueen’s crash, I’d say the teaser is definitely the best one and a lot darker too.

I remember when i first saw the teaser and being in utter shock

That cut off scream implies he instantly got knocked out, probably got a concussion

0:18 imagine if we got this one, it would be 10x more morbid and darker

The Teaser was so Nostalgic Man.

This is honestly one of my favorite scenes in all of Pixar/Disney. It’s so messed up and mature compared to a lot of the stuff we usually get. It’s so dark compared to the rest of the franchise

Yes the first teaser was like mcqueen was remembering the incident of his  crash when he was sleeping

I thought that Cars 3 is going to be the darkest movie in the trilogy, but then I remembered Cars 2 💀

The teaser version was so good, I actually remembered how it was the only poster and marketing shown for the movie.

Bro we were robbed

When making a family movie with a heavy theme, it’s always that line producers struggle to cross. It’s kinda narrowed down to “What if it’s too dark for kids?” and “It’s not dark, it’s real.“ On an art perspective, the first one was the best, but on a business perspective, the last one was the safest.

The teaser is unironically one of the hardest things I’ve ever seen

The preview actuslly confirms that the rusteze paint job from the beginning of the movie was supposed to be the one he used in the Florida 500 race

What’s really disturbing about the scene is that these cars are sentient, so if that crash, that basically the equivalent of a human falling down a hill, but they are on the pavement, which sounds way more painful.

An interesting part is that Lightning doesn't have visible eyes or mouth in every incarnation. If just for a moment, it makes the audience consider that this isn't a fictional anthropomorphic car, but a person driving the car. That could be an interesting theory about how the franchise is not being depicted literally, but instead an analysis of car culture and how a vehicle becomes an extension of the person.

Oh, that’s gore… that’s gore of my comfort character.

I found the final version dark because,
McQueen's not breathing at all. HE'S TOTALLY DEAD!

The teaser trailer made my heart sank man, everyone was talking about how dark it was…no eyes, mouths, for any of the vehicles. Teaser definitely was the best no doubt.👍