Disney has unveiled the first trailer for the upcoming sequel to a legacy sequel, Tron: Ares.
Some 15 years since we last ventured inside the Grid, the new film "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 AI beings". And judging by the trailer, which can be viewed below, it’s going to be a wild ride, with all the Light Cycle action fans could want after a decade and a half of waiting.
The history of the Tron franchise has been a case of enduring IP, little content. The first film arrived in 1982, riding the wave of the then-new video game and arcade craze with a story that saw a fresh faced Jeff Bridges play Kevin Flynn, a game developer transported inside a computer world. Using pioneering CGI, the film introduced the iconic Light Cycles, presenting a wholly original fantasy world.
While sequels were mooted straight away, it took until 2010 for Tron: Legacy to finally hit screens, focusing on Kevin’s son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) and his investigation into his father’s disappearance, ultimately leading him into another, altogether more modern digital world.
While the film saw Jeff Bridges reprise his role and used state of the art 3D effects, a sequel failed to materialize, and it’s best remembered for the iconic soundtrack by Daft Punk.
An Animated TV series, Tron: Uprising – which you won't see ranking among the best Disney+ series – set between the two movies, aired on Disney XD in 2012, but failed to gather momentum and was cancelled after one season. Disney has kept the franchise alive via their parks however, with Tron Light Cycle Power Run serving as a flagship roller coaster attraction in both their Shanghai and Orlando resorts.
What can we expect from Tron: Ares?
Tron: Ares looks to be a big swing from Disney to keep the franchise relevant, and judging by this first trailer, could be one of the best Disney+ movies of the year.
While much of the plot is being kept under wraps for now, we do know that Jared Leto plays Ares, a sophisticated, sentient program which makes its way from the digital world to our own. The trailer’s glimpse of a neon red Light Cycle slicing a police cruiser in two while speeding down a packed highway has us very excited for what’s in store, especially if Nine Inch Nails’ full score (Daft who?) is half as thumping as the snippet we hear in the trailer.
Coming from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales director Joachim Rønning, the third installment in the saga also appears to be very much a soft reboot of the franchise, with none of the threads left hanging after Legacy’s conclusion seemingly picked up, and although we hear Jeff Bridges gravely voiceover, his role could well be cameo stuff. The new sneak peak also gives us our first glimpse of Greta Lee as Eve, Evan Peters as Julian and Gillian Anderson.
With a topical spin pitting the human race against ever-learning AI and eye-popping visuals, Tron: Ares looks like it will be well worth the wait for content starved franchise fans. We can't wait to plug back into the Grid when the threequel arrives on October 10.
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