Zil

Zil
Vehicle type	1951 ZiS-112/1
Color	Black
Occupation	Leader of the Lemons (initially; replaced)
First appearance	The Art of Cars 2 (2011)
Character information Gender Male Home Russia

"Where is Finn McMissile?"

—Zil, Cars 2

Zil (Russian: Зил) is a conceptual character in Cars 2. Originally the main antagonist, he was replaced by Miles Axlerod and Professor Z.

History

Not much is known about Zil, but it has been revealed that early during the development of Cars 2, he was conceived as the main antagonist of the film, being behind the Lemons' plot to sabotage the World Grand Prix and assassinate The Queen.

In the 1950s, Zil was a Soviet sports car who would eventually be disgraced after disastrously failing to live up to performance expectations on the track.

An alternate opening for the film, storyboarded back when Zil was set to be the main antagonist, has Agent Healey being chased by the Lemons while trying to contact headquarters until he hides in a junkyard. However, just as he believes he's escaped, Healey discovers the remains of many other cars before the Lemons appear and a crane grabs him and tosses him into a car compactor. As Healey begins to get crushed, Zil appears from the shadows and asks him where Finn McMissile is, but Healey refuses to tell him and vows that Finn will stop him. Unmoved, Zil chuckles and says, "We will see." Just then, Healey gets crushed as soon as Zil turns around to leave.

While not directly appearing, in the deleted scene Oktoberfest, he orders three Lemons to hunt down and kill an unnamed agent, which they succeed in doing so. Like in the final film, Mater is mistaken by the Lemons to be an American spy.

While once again not directly appearing in the deleted scene Meet Finn, he orders Tomber (who was supposed to be a minor antagonist in the movie) to kill Mater but he fails due to Finn McMissile intervening. Zil's plot is also revealed in this deleted scene: he was planning to sabotage the World Grand Prix and assassinate The Queen after the last race in London.

In the deleted scene Train to Spain, Zil appears before the beginning, in what would've been the moment it was revealed Giulia was a double agent.

Toward the third act of the film, Zil would've captured Mater in Italy and tried to kill him with molten steel, only to be likely thwarted by Giulia at the last moment.

General information

Personality and Traits

Unlike Professor Z and the rest of the Lemons, Zil is a calm and collected villain. He understands the importance of intelligence and prefers to use mind over matter, outsourcing the dirty work to his henchmen, the Lemons, and not presenting himself in person unless he absolutely has to. This is evident in scenes such as Meet Finn, where Finn makes it clear that he has no idea who's behind the plot to sabotage the World Grand Prix and assassinate The Queen. That said, Zil is a hard worker, managing a large, complex web of Lemons and keeping a close eye on both his allies and enemies, knowing that it's better to trust yourself than anyone else. The producers of Cars 2 revealed that Zil was much more of a traditional James Bond villain than the Professor or Miles Axlerod, planning a much more complex conspiracy. Despite this, Zil does genuinely seem to believe in his work, and to some extent, care for his subordinates, as well as his two closest allies: Tomber and Giulia.

Livery

According to concept art, Zil was to be painted jet black, and have a chrome bumper.

Model

His design is based on the 1951 ZiS-112/1, a Soviet car that performed poorly due to its unusually heavy weight for a race car, which made it hard to handle.

Gallery

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Trivia

• As of now, Zil only appears in two deleted scenes: Prague and Train to Spain.
• Similar to Miles Axlerod in Cars 2, it's implied in Meet Finn that none of the main characters would've known Zil was behind the conspiracy until the climax of the film.
• It's likely that Zil's motivation to target the World Grand Prix was due to his own embarrassing performance on the racetrack in the past, thus wanting to take revenge on the world for mocking him.
• According to Jay Shuster, Zil was cut due to requests made by Disney Russia as they saw the character as being slightly offensive due to his Russian accent and role as a villain.
  • In response to a fan, Shuster would also state that Disney got afraid of making fun of any Russians, and that another character, Petrov Trunkov was possibly dropped in response along with Zil. Shuster would also state that Disney Russia told Pixar they would lose the Russian market if Zil was the main nemesis as well.

References

Unproduced

Media Top Down Truck Stop (deleted scene) • Lost • Community Service • Traffic School (deleted scene) • Motorama Girls •Backwards to the Forwards • Import Mater • Mater Goes to the Car-Nival • Runway Mater • Stunt Mater • Paris Race • Germany (deleted scene) • Meet Finn • Train to Spain • Oktoberfest • Prague (deleted scene) • Tall Tale • More Than New Paint • The Bolt • The Boogie Woogie • Jars of Dirt • Lug Nuts • Race Through the Andes • To Protect and Serve • Planes 3 • Metro Characters Chariots • Dodge Charger • Flying Tow Truck • Freddie • French Pitty • Gerald Carr • Giulia • Indiana Jones • James Bond • Jerry • JL • Marsk • Mater's Tow Fair • Marlena Wolfsburg • New Model • Stone wheels • Wally Crane • Zil Locations Calais Port • Lou's Casa Della Tires • Munich Museum