Tron: Ares breathes new life into the franchise more than four decades after its debut, transporting the Grid’s inhabitants out of their virtual domain and into the physical world. Although that premise sounds like a straightforward continuation of where 2010’s Tron: Legacy left off, Ares takes a distinct approach to the idea of programs becoming people.
Director Joachim Rønning and writer Jesse Wigutow nevertheless honor the series’ roots: the film includes explicit connections to the original Tron, features Jeff Bridges reprising Kevin Flynn, and closes with a final beat that gestures back to Legacy.
[Ed. note: Major spoilers follow for the ending of Tron: Ares.]
Photo: Leah Gallo/Disney EnterprisesTron: Ares closes on the suggestion that the story will continue: Ares (Jared Leto), now integrated into human society, appears intent on reconnecting with Quorra (Olivia Wilde), the Tron: Legacy character last seen traveling the Pacific Northwest with Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund).
That implication isn’t the only dangling thread. A mid-credits scene sheds light on the destiny of one antagonist and deepens the franchise’s ties to its origins.
Does Tron: Ares have a mid-credits sequence?
Yes. The mid-credits sequence resolves a major cliffhanger involving Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who evades earthly punishment by digitizing his consciousness and sending it into the Grid. Julian awakens inside Dillinger Enterprise’s server, where ENCOM’s security purge has left the Grid a ravaged, post-apocalyptic virtual landscape. He seems condemned to an isolated existence within this ruined program-world.
While exploring, Julian discovers an identity disc lodged in a console—the triangular disc design mirrors the one Ares received earlier. Longtime fans will recognize its red-and-gray motif as the very disc associated with Sark (David Warner) from the 1982 Tron. As Julian seizes the disc, he screams and spectral armor begins to materialize around him. The sequence deliberately echoes Sark’s tormented transformation from the original film, implying Julian could be following his grandfather Edward Dillinger’s path toward becoming a Sark-like figure.
Image: Walt Disney StudiosThat development could easily pave the way for a Tron 4, contingent on Tron: Ares’ commercial performance. Julian’s new digital exile also opens a narrative avenue for Elisabeth Dillinger (Gillian Anderson), who dies in Ares but might be resurrected in program form in a sequel.
In interviews with Polygon, Peters and Anderson revealed they have sketched out a pitch to bring the mother-and-son Dillinger pair back. Anderson acknowledged the possibility of an in-Grid version of Elisabeth, and Peters noted that in a digital universe “anything is possible.”
“I could come alive in the Grid,” Anderson quipped, wistful about missing out on a Tron-style suit of armor in Ares.
Between Ares’s unresolved business in the real world and the Dillingers’ potential for digital return, the franchise’s future remains wide open.
Does Tron: Ares have a post-credits sequence?
No. There’s no additional scene after the end credits. Aside from a briefly shown photograph of Quorra, the film’s only extra narrative payoff appears in the mid-credits scene described above.
Source: Polygon
