Next year, Tron: Ares will hit screens as part of the upcoming Disney movies set to take 2025 by storm. With Jared Leto’s big threequel currently in production and on track for its premiere, some information surrounding this mysterious follow-up to one of the best sci-fi movies has been teased by its director Joachim Rønning. Overall, this tease has only led me to even more questions about what’s happened in the years since Tron: Legacy, despite the veil of secrecy still firmly covering this movie.
How Director Joachim Rønning Teased More Tron: Ares Details
As seen on Joachim Rønning’s Instagram story, a recent photo showed off a small piece of Tron 3’s wider world. Shown below, the item in question is what looks like a convention pass to an event that is tied to an important piece of franchise lore. Take a look for yourself, and see what sticks out:
I don’t know about you, but I’m very curious as to what Paranoia-Con 27 is, and what it could mean for Tron: Ares’ story. The obvious connection between what looks like a prop from the movie and the deeper series story is the video game Space Paranoids; a creation of Kevin Flynn himself.
Per the Tron franchise timeline, we know that this is one of the programs Jeff Bridges’ iconic Disney character was trying to prove was stolen by boss Edward Dillinger Sr. (David Warner). While mentioned in the marketing campaign leading up to Tron: Legacy, we haven’t really heard much about that game for quite some time. This leads to so many other questions about Tron: Ares’ state of play.
Besides wondering just how big of a deal Space Paranoids happens to be, and why it potentially has a whole convention surrounding its branding, another important Tron 3 query comes up. More specifically, what’s ENCOM been up to during the last decade-plus since Tron: Legacy?
When we last left Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) he seemed poised to be taking control of the company, with Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) brought on as chairman of the board. Could the continuation of Space Paranoids be a sign that ENCOM is actually putting up a fight against Ares’ potential masters at Dillinger Systems?
Speaking of blasts from the past, another piece of Tron’s history seems to have become a bit more important.
Could Tron: Evolution’s Importance Hint At Another Character’s Return?
Through set photos shared by Instagram user @BanditCar, we may have already seen Paranoia-Con 27 at work. And apparently, all corners of Tron canon are being cosplayed at this event. Not only are both Tron and Tron: Legacy costumes being spotted in the wild, but a cosplayer sporting the look of Abraxas, the villain of the video game tie-in Tron: Evolution has been seen.
I’m not even going to dive into the larger story of that title, as it’d take a while to get through. But Tron: Evolution was mostly important for the fact that it showed CLU’s rebellion on The Grid and the purge of the ISOs taking shape. Which meant that Quorra (Olivia Wilde) was an integral part of the game.
So if there’s an Abraxas cosplayer at Tron: Ares’ big convention, what does this mean for Quorra? How did her story get out to the public in enough detail that people can dress as her oppressor? Are we looking at another meta scenario similar to The Matrix Resurrections where the movies of Tron became the games of its fictional universe?
This is quite a bit to think about, and we don’t even know who else might pop up on Tron: Ares’ cast roster; or even when exactly to expect the movie. All know at this point is something big is on the horizon, and 2025 is the year it arrives in our world. So keep your eyes and ears open, and don’t forget to use your Disney+ subscription to revisit the cinematic universe of Tron thus far.