Do Any TRON: LEGACY Characters Return in TRON: ARES? Here's What We Know
After nearly 15 years, we’re finally heading back to The Grid with Tron: Ares, the long-awaited follow-up to 2010’s Tron: Legacy. But, before fans get too hyped for digital light cycles and neon landscapes, there’s one big question on everyone’s mind: will any familiar faces from Legacy show up in this threequel?
Spoilers ahead!
Tron: Ares only features one returning character from the franchise, and that’s Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn. There is a brief mention of Garrett Hedlund’s Sam Flynn having left Encom.
Fans have been holding out hope for a secret cameo or a post-credits tease that sets up a fourth movie. After seeing the film, though, I can confirm that Quorra does make a small but intriguing appearance.
She’s shown in a photo that Ares is carrying with him near the end of the film. The image includes what seem to be coordinates, confirming that she’s still out there in the real world.
It feels like a deliberate setup for a potential sequel, possibly one where Ares sets out to find her as he continues to explore what freedom means for a program living outside The Grid.
While many fans may find this disappointing, early reactions to Ares suggest that the movie holds up just fine without the returning cast. Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski once had his own plans for a sequel titled Tron: Ascension, but after years stuck in development limbo, Disney moved forward with a fresh vision from Joachim Rønning instead.
When asked about the lack of returning characters earlier this year, Kosinski said, “These things are not only creative choices; sometimes actors don't want to be in it anymore.”
Producer Justin Springer added some context to that creative decision:
“There are different ways of looking at that, but I think the story fell into a place where we felt that we didn't need the old characters to be front and centre. We wanted to take this into a new direction while, at the same time, honoring the universe that we’re in.”
He continued, “We're telling a story that's 14 years later, and the most important thing is that we tell this new story in a way that works. To just throw cameos in, where it's a parade of people that we love from this franchise, I just feel like it's fan service that doesn't serve the story. But we are definitely focused on ways to surprise the audience.”
TRON: Ares introduces a new story centered around a highly advanced Program named Ares, who’s sent from the digital world into the real one on a mission, marking humanity’s first true encounter with AI beings.
While Ares might not bring back all the familiar faces, it’s clearly paving the way for a cool new direction for the franchise. With Quorra’s photo tease and Ares’ journey into the human world, there’s a real possibility that the next chapter in the TRON saga could finally unite the old and the new.
Would you want to see Sam Flynn and Quorra return for the next TRON movie?