Summary

• TRON: Ares will have a major shift in setting, focusing on a Program sent to the real world on a mission, a departure from The Grid.
• The new film will star Jared Leto and an ensemble cast, potentially exploring the interaction of AI with humans outside of The Grid.
• While this change may disappoint loyal TRON fans expecting more of The Grid's iconic elements, it could lead to new and intriguing ethical explorations.

As the first details emerge about TRON: Ares, it looks like the film will have a major change in setting from the first two films which could end up being disappointing to longtime TRON fans. The third TRON film has been in production for many years, with pandemic delays, Hollywood strikes, and Disney putting the franchise on the back-burner, but now the film is officially moving forward and will be released in 2025. The movie is expected to connect in some way to the two original films, but it also appears changes are on the way.

TRON: Ares will star Jared Leto as the Ares character and has also secured Evan Peters, Greta Smith, and Gillian Anderson as part of its cast. Not much is currently known about the plot of this third film in the popular Disney franchise, but it will be connected in some way to 1982's TRON as well as the 2010 sequel, TRON: Legacy. Now with an entirely new cast, this third film in the franchise will look to gain more critical and commercial success than TRON: Legacy, but one detail about the film could cause worry among the devoted TRON fans.

Both TRON and TRON: Legacy are available to stream on Disney+

TRON: Ares Might Primarily Take Place Outside Of The Grid

While only a few details about the TRON: Ares story have not emerged, the official synopsis states "TRON: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings." If this movie is about a new program going to the real world on some kind of mission, that would mean time spent in The Grid would be limited. Both of the first two TRON films spend the majority of the film within The Grid, so a shift to a story outside that virtual world would be a major deviation.

"TRON: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings."

On one hand, it makes sense that after two TRON films, the movie would want to explore the idea of what would happen if a sophisticated program or artificial intelligence escaped The Grid. Artificial intelligence and its ethical use is one of the most interesting issues in Hollywood, politics, and culture, and a natural evolution of the TRON universe could be to move from humans interacting with the programs in its world to the programs interacting with humans in ours. Considering the appeal of the first two films, however, limited time in The Grid would be a letdown.

TRON: Ares Being Set In The Real World Would Be Incredibly Disappointing

The first images of Jared Leto's character in TRON: Ares seems to show a red-lighted character inside The Grid, but the official synopsis leans toward this character quickly breaking free from The Grid, which would be a major disappointment. This change from the first two films would mean very limited lightcycles, identity discs, computerized cities, Outlands, or any of the defining features of that computer program. After TRON: Legacy received terrible critical reviews, it would seem as though Disney is taking TRON:Ares and leaving behind the franchise's most iconic elements.

When TRON first appeared in 1982, it was praised for its use of computer-generated worlds in The Grid. Advancements over the next 30 years led TRON: Legacy to also be hailed for visual effects. Now, with 14 more years of technology, a TRON film set mostly outside The Grid would only be able to take advantage of these advancements in limited quantities. TRON: Ares may or may not be a direct sequel to TRON: Legacy, but if it breaks the tradition of the first two TRON films, it will be a major disappointment for the popular cult franchise.