Tron followers have cause to be excited in 2025. Following a protracted dormant interval, the franchise is racing its approach again into theaters this October with a brand new sequel referred to as Tron: Ares. The third Tron film stars Jared Leto because the titular character, a program who ventures into the true world on a high-stakes but very mysterious mission.
But is it secure to name Ares a sequel? Visually, this new film is clearly lower from the identical fabric as 2010’s Tron: Legacy. The newly launched trailer makes that a lot obvious. And with Nine Inch Nails stepping in for Daft Punk, it’s apparent the electronica-heavy rating stays as large a precedence as ever.
But in different methods, Ares is trying much less like a direct sequel and extra like a delicate reboot of the franchise. Where are all of the surviving characters from Legacy? Why aren’t stars Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde returning for Ares? Why is Jeff Bridges of all individuals the one Tron veteran confirmed for the solid of Ares? Let’s take a deeper have a look at how Legacy set itself up for a sequel, and why Ares appears to be ignoring that setup.
Garrett Hedlund’s Sam Flynn & Olivia Wilde’s Quorra
Tron: Legacy primarily revolves across the shared battle of Garrett Hedlund’s Sam Flynn and Olivia Wilde’s Quorra. Sam is the son of Bridges’ character, Kevin Flynn, the CEO of telecom large Encom who disappeared in 1989. In Legacy, Sam ventures into the digital panorama often known as The Grid to seek out his father and stop Kevin’s creation CLU from main a digital military into the true world.
As Sam reunites together with his father, he additionally meets Quorra. Quorra is a member of a race often known as ISOs, digital lifeforms who appeared spontaneously in The Grid. Quorra is proof that life finds a approach, even inside a pc simulation. In the top, Sam defeats CLU and returns to the true world with Quorra in tow. The world’s first digital lifeform has been remodeled into flesh and blood.
Legacy’s ending lays a reasonably clear path for a sequel. Sam himself is lastly able to embrace his accountability as Encom’s largest shareholder. Rather than merely play annual pranks on the Encom board, Sam is ready to steer the corporate right into a brighter and extra open-source future. Quorra is by his aspect, serving as residing proof of the true wonders that await within the digital realm.
Legacy units up an ongoing storyline for each Sam and Quorra. In truth, the house video launch even features a quick movie referred to as “Tron: The Next Day,” exhibiting Sam returning to Encom to start shepherding the corporate into a brand new period.
But regardless of that, neither Hedlund nor Wilde appear to be returning for Tron: Ares. They’re each very conspicuous by their absence within the sequel. On some degree, it’s not stunning that Disney would wish to pivot to a special, extra standalone route for Ares. Legacy grossed $409.9 million worldwide on a finances of $170 million (not together with advertising prices). If not an outright failure, it wasn’t fairly the smash hit Disney hoped for. Like 2012’s John Carter and 2013’s Lone Ranger, Legacy is one in all quite a few underperforming live-action motion pictures from an period earlier than Disney actually began to lean on Marvel and Star Wars. The studio might have determined that Legacy didn’t strike sufficient of a chord with moviegoers that straight persevering with the plot made a lot sense.
Still, as we’ve explored, Sam and Quorra are too central to the narrative of Tron to simply fully ignore. Are we meant to imagine Sam gave up on his mission to construct a greater Encom? Did Quorra develop uninterested in the true world and return to The Grid? The absence of those characters leaves a significant void within the franchise, and we hope Ares finds a way of not less than acknowledging Sam and Quorra’s significance, if not bringing them again in unannounced cameo roles.
Cillian Murphy’s Edward Dillinger, Jr.
Hedlund and Wilde aren’t the one Legacy actors whose absence within the Ares solid is baffling. There’s additionally Cillian Murphy, whose character was clearly being arrange for a lot greater issues in a 3rd Tron film.
Murphy very briefly seems in an uncredited position in Legacy, taking part in Edward Dillinger, Jr., the son of David Warner’s Edward Dillinger from the unique Tron. The youthful Dillinger is launched as the pinnacle of Encom’s software program growth group, and a fierce opponent of Sam’s dedication to free, open-source software program.
It goes with out saying that Murphy wasn’t solid simply to seem in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo position. Dillinger was clearly meant to play an even bigger half in a future sequel, the place he seemingly would have grow to be the primary human antagonist, simply as his father was in Tron. Dillinger’s position seemingly would have coincided with the return of the Master Control Program, the sinister entity that served as the primary digital villain of the primary film.
Judging from the Tron: Ares trailer, the MCP itself could also be again in play. Ares and his fellow applications are marked by glowing pink highlights, which is the calling card of the MCP, simply as CLU’s faction was orange and Tron was blue. That suggests a sinister undertone to Ares’ mission. We don’t know if he’s meant to be hero or villain. He doesn’t appear to grasp a lot about his mission both. But if the MCP is again, why hasn’t Edward Dillinger returned, too? Why is Gillian Anderson’s new character all of a sudden the main target of the Encom board?
That stated, we do know that Evan Peters is taking part in a personality named Julian Dillinger, so not less than it seems that the Dillinger clan has an element to play on this story. And it’s all the time attainable that Murphy (who, once more, wasn’t really credited in Legacy) remains to be secretly returning for the brand new movie.
Bruce Boxleitner’s Tron
Arguably probably the most baffling omission of all from the Tron: Ares solid is Bruce Boxleitner. If it is a Tron film, the place is Tron himself? In the unique film, Boxleitner performed each Encom govt Alan Bradley and the heroic safety program Tron. Boxleitner reprised the Alan position in Tron: Legacy, whereas it was ultimately revealed that CLU’s bodyguard Rinzler was a reprogrammed Tron. When final we noticed Rinzler in Legacy, he had fallen into the Sea of Simulation, which wiped away his new programming and restored the hero inside.
Sadly, it doesn’t seem that Boxleitner is returning for Ares for both position. We can take care of Alan being written out of the image, however is the plan actually to make a Tron film with out its namesake? Or is it attainable that Tron has been recast with a youthful actor? Perhaps that’s who Cameron Monaghan is taking part in?
Whatever is happening right here, we might hope that Ares intends to observe up on Tron’s open-ended destiny from Legacy. This character deserves redemption after what he was subjected to by CLU. And a Tron sequel wants to incorporate Tron in some capability.
Why Is Jeff Bridges in Tron: Ares?
Perhaps the only most baffling announcement relating to Tron: Ares is the information that Bridges is returning to the franchise. Sure, he’s probably the most recognizable and bankable star among the many Tron: Legacy solid, however there’s the little drawback that each of his characters had been killed off in that sequel. In the climax of Tron: Legacy, Kevin Flynn sacrifices himself to destroy CLU and provides his son and adopted daughter the possibility to flee again to the true world.
So why is Bridges of all individuals again for a 3rd film? It’s arduous to say. We can briefly hear Bridges’ voice within the trailer, however there’s no indication of whether or not he could be taking part in a still-living Kevin Flynn or a model of CLU. Did Flynn’s digital archenemy someway survive their shared loss of life in Legacy? Did Flynn hold a backup of CLU helpful? Or has Flynn himself someway transcended the bounds of flesh, attaining immortality in The Grid?
That’s a thriller that can little question be solved in Ares. We’ll additionally discover out whether or not Ares himself is working with Flynn/CLU or finishing up the Master Control Program’s agenda. But regardless of the movie reveals, there’s no getting round the truth that it’s fairly bizarre to have a Tron sequel that resurrects Bridges’ character(s) however ignores all of the vital gamers who really survived the occasions of Legacy. As a lot as we’re trying ahead to Tron: Ares, the sequel additionally leaves us greater than a bit of perplexed.
But, hey, not less than that NIN rating is sounding fairly swell.
In different Tron information, discover out in regards to the collection return to the gaming realm with the Metroid/Hades hybrid Tron: Catalyst.
Jesse is a mild-mannered employees author for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your mental thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
