TRON: ARES Director Explains Why Legacy Characters Won’t Be Returning
It’s been 15 years since Tron: Legacy hit theaters, and now the Grid is powering back up with Tron: Ares. The upcoming threequel is introducing a brand-new story with Jared Leto as a humanoid AI program breaking into the real world. But for fans hoping to see familiar faces like Garrett Hedlund as Sam Flynn, Olivia Wilde as Quorra, or Cillian Murphy as Dillinger Jr., the film won’t be giving us any surprise cameos.
The only returning legacy actor this time around is Jeff Bridges, who will once again step into the role of Kevin Flynn. According to director Joachim Rønning, there are a couple of reasons why other characters aren’t being brought back.
"These things are not only creative choices; sometimes actors don't want to be in it anymore. 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."
That new direction revolves around Leto’s Ares, a superintelligent AI crossing into our world for the first time. Alongside him, audiences will meet fresh faces played by Evan Peters, Greta Lee, Gillian Anderson, and Jodie Turner-Smith.
Producer Justin Springer also weighed in on why the team resisted stuffing the movie with nostalgic cameos.
"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.
"If we don't touch something in this movie, I always think about where else we can play. I produced the animated series [Tron: Uprising] and I worked on the theme park rides.
“There are all sorts of different ways to keep the mythology alive, whether that be in a film or a series or whatever, if we're so lucky."
So while Tron: Ares may not bring back every fan-favorite character, it sounds like the creative team is more interested in pushing the mythology forward than looking backward.
Via: GamesRadar+