It's Troning time baby!
Tron: Ares
- Thread starter WarpFactorZ
- Start date
Perhaps a bit too brutal for my liking as a big fan of the film (but fair game on the dodgy deep fake), although they're spot on about Michael Sheen. I loved the hell out of his performance and I only regret we didn't get more of his zaniness.
It's kind of their thing.
(Although I still think they were way off point on Frozen II.)The day I saw Ant-Man I said "Go back and redo Tron: Legacy!"
Sure, but back in the day, they were more playful in their poking fun of films and shows. In the couple of years, they've become more mean-spirited and, as a result, become increasingly hit and miss for me.It's kind of their thing.
Not trying (too hard) to be a pollyanna propagandist (tm Marillion2025), but Jared was interviewed on GMA this morning and came across as very gracious.
I was surprised to learn he is much older than I thought, as he saw the original movie in the theater in ‘82 at the age of 11.
I believe Greta Lee is on tomorrow (Thursday).
I was surprised to learn he is much older than I thought, as he saw the original movie in the theater in ‘82 at the age of 11.
I believe Greta Lee is on tomorrow (Thursday).
He's OLD.
He is 7 years older than me. So I am old but not that old.
I remember him being on My So Called Life. Though I only watched a little of it. He has been around for awhile. But never really broken out in huge way. Yet has this strange stigma and mystique around him. I am not talking about his personal or off camera life. Which is separate but sometimes overlaps.It’s clear he is huge Tron fan. Seems only reason this got made. Definitely legitimate to question why Disney did not make a Legacy sequel 10 years ago. But that should be a separate discussion from if Ares is any good.
I am seeing it tonight. From little I have read this feels more like sequel to original movie. Just from the Dillinger factor, barely in Legacy, all over marketing alone is sign of that. It’s fits that someone who saw 1982 as kid would have nostalgia for that look. It’s understandable why 28 years later Legacy distanced it from that. Though it’s interesting that we are getting a Tron The Next Generation with one representative of original film. Like when McCoy or Spock showed up on actual TNG. Meaning this is leaning into a “Tron universe” than specific characters in lead roles. Something that is never really discussed is Legacy already diminished the Tron character. He is barely in the movie. His last heroic act when he turned back to being good… is so limp and poorly staged. My memory always tells me it’s a great moment but when I rewatch feels like later addition.
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One of the few movies I'm going to see in theatre's Hope its good!
Sad thing is I used to go to the theatre 2-3 times a month. Before covid, Sunday mornings 10am, $ 5-6 bucks, get out of the house. Now? like $12, and thats for the matanee. Its honestly to expensive, and the movies are generally not worth the money, watched more stinkers than good ones lately.
Sad thing is I used to go to the theatre 2-3 times a month. Before covid, Sunday mornings 10am, $ 5-6 bucks, get out of the house. Now? like $12, and thats for the matanee. Its honestly to expensive, and the movies are generally not worth the money, watched more stinkers than good ones lately.
After seeing some of the reviews, I think I'm gonna just stream this on Disney+. especially since I rememberd yesterday that we also have Predator: Badlands, Zootopia 2, and Avatar: Fire and Ash all coming up. I'm pretty sure Badlands is another one I'd have to see on my own, and I'm a lot more interested in that than I am in this. That's probably one I'll go see no matter what the reviews say.
Despite some of the early reviews, I went and saw this one today in Dolby ATMOS and I'm glad I did.
If you like Tron in general, the sensation of speed, chases, light cycles and all that stuff, there's a lot to like here that ought to be seen on a big screen and with a good sound system. The soundtrack isn't quite as good as Legacy's Daft Punk stuff but it's still pretty good.
Contrary to what a lot of reviewers have said, the movie isn't completely devoid of plot and characterization, but it is definitely not the strong point. I don't love or hate Jared Leto but I thought he was fine in this movie- no real complaints on that score.
Honestly, I went in with low expectations and wound up enjoying it. It is a fast-paced movie and the two hours does not drag. Is it going to win awards? Hell no. But it delivered the stuff I went to see, so I came away satisfied. I'll be generous, round up a half star, and give this one a 7/10.
If you like Tron in general, the sensation of speed, chases, light cycles and all that stuff, there's a lot to like here that ought to be seen on a big screen and with a good sound system. The soundtrack isn't quite as good as Legacy's Daft Punk stuff but it's still pretty good.
Contrary to what a lot of reviewers have said, the movie isn't completely devoid of plot and characterization, but it is definitely not the strong point. I don't love or hate Jared Leto but I thought he was fine in this movie- no real complaints on that score.
Honestly, I went in with low expectations and wound up enjoying it. It is a fast-paced movie and the two hours does not drag. Is it going to win awards? Hell no. But it delivered the stuff I went to see, so I came away satisfied. I'll be generous, round up a half star, and give this one a 7/10.
Saw it a couple of hours ago. It was less bad that I feared overall. Visually stunning, soundtrack nothing special, story wise somewhat thin, but ok-ish. character wise on the very shallow/thin-side unfortunately. It's a movie in the Tron world(s), but it's definitely not a Legacy sequel in any way.
No Sam, Quorra or Tron appearance, just a tiny bit a news report and a photo as far as I remember
I just got back and really enjoyed it. I did see it in 3D and so glad I did! Honestly I can not remember last time I saw any movie this way. I was kind in a bind with my schedule. I work first shift and get done at 2:30pm and first showing at 4pm was 3D. It’s a long day to go to movie afterwards. Plus the Brewers did not beat the Cubs last night and tonight’s game is 8pm. So seeing tonight had to be 3D. So worth it!
Front row too. Never use to do that. Started with Superman and here with 3D very immersive.
Like to get into details but do spoil anything. They definitely leaving certain doors open if we ever get more of the franchise . Even characters not in the movie. Sometimes avoiding characters and explanations give more options in the future. So many sequels hooks in big franchises are misleading and restrictive.
Front row too. Never use to do that. Started with Superman and here with 3D very immersive.
Like to get into details but do spoil anything. They definitely leaving certain doors open if we ever get more of the franchise . Even characters not in the movie. Sometimes avoiding characters and explanations give more options in the future. So many sequels hooks in big franchises are misleading and restrictive.
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Saw it a couple of hours ago. It was less bad that I feared overall. Visually stunning, soundtrack nothing special, story wise somewhat thin, but ok-ish. character wise on the very shallow/thin-side unfortunately. It's a movie in the Tron world(s), but it's definitely not a Legacy sequel in any way.No Sam, Quorra or Tron appearance, just a tiny bit a news report and a photo as far as I remember
the last we see of Ares he is holding pictures of Sam and Quorra. Need to see it again to better read written notes on pictures and hear his narration. On her picture it’s written “have you seen her?” Maybe Sam is looking for her. Ares in narration basically says he knows he is not unique in his experience, hopes maybe he meets them. More than I expected.
I only catched a glimpse of a photo of Quorra with numbers and think it could be coordinates from that scene
Missed the 'have you seen her?' note on the picture of Quorra. Maybe that's the 'personal reason' Sam gave up the company as mentioned in the news report at the beginning of the movie. Maybe more to explore there.
Still haven't seen any commercials for it on ABC, despite the fact that the media tours are happening on ABC owned talk shows at the moment.
I originally wasn't going to see it because I really don't go to the movies anymore and I have Disney+ (it'll be there in three or four months anyway). But having seen both the original Tron and Tron: Legacy in theaters, I just went ahead and did it.
Went to a 3D showing (my first in decades) immediately after work, and really liked it. While some would argue that it's not a direct sequel to Legacy, it continues to push the story of the Grid forward and features plenty of callbacks to both Legacy and the original. And I actually liked Jared Leto as Ares and the trajectory his character took. I thought Gillian Anderson was well cast in this as well. The movie made me realize that Tron wasn't about the title character, but of the world of Tron, and that it could go in many different directions.
And Nine Inch Nails? Unlike Daft Punk which provided many different suites in the Legacy soundtrack, NIN provided more of a reoccurring theme throughout Ares, but hit all the marks when needed.
Went to a 3D showing (my first in decades) immediately after work, and really liked it. While some would argue that it's not a direct sequel to Legacy, it continues to push the story of the Grid forward and features plenty of callbacks to both Legacy and the original. And I actually liked Jared Leto as Ares and the trajectory his character took. I thought Gillian Anderson was well cast in this as well. The movie made me realize that Tron wasn't about the title character, but of the world of Tron, and that it could go in many different directions.
And Nine Inch Nails? Unlike Daft Punk which provided many different suites in the Legacy soundtrack, NIN provided more of a reoccurring theme throughout Ares, but hit all the marks when needed.
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Ending explained
Let’s Talk About the Ending, and End Credits, of ‘Tron: Ares’
By Germain Lussier Published October 10, 2025
Fifteen years ago, the previous Tron movie, Tron: Legacy, ended with an impossibly exciting cliffhanger. Sam Flynn, son of Kevin Flynn, emerged from the Grid having found his father and returning with Quorra, a digitally created being whose mere existence was poised to change the face of history, humanity, the universe, and all of it. Then, nothing happened. The film didn’t get a direct sequel, and it took almost two decades to return to the Grid.
That return happened this weekend with the release of Tron: Ares. Set in a world where those events happened, the story instead follows the new CEO of Encom, Eve Kim, who is in a battle over technology with her rival, CEO of Dillinger Corporation, Julian Dillinger.
In the end, though, well, some of these strands come back to light, so let’s break down what happens at the end and in the end credits of Tron: Ares. Massive spoilers to follow.
If you are still reading, we assume you’ve seen the movie, so we’ll skip over everything to the end. Having found and extracted the Permanence Code from the original Tron grid, Ares can now live his life in our world. After helping Eve defeat the Dillinger programs, Ares has escaped and written to her from Mexico. There, he’s attempting to become more human by seeing the world but, also, is seeking someone out. Ares has photos, as well as a last known location, for Quorra, a being he believes is just like him.
The assumption here is that Ares, a digital being who now exists in the world, is hoping to find Quorra, the only other digital being that exists in the world, to do… we don’t know what. Which, on the one hand, we like. As fans of Tron: Legacy and its ending, it’s nice that Tron: Ares eventually makes its way back to giving those events the resonance they deserve. On the other hand, this is almost the exact same ending as 15 years ago. Newly extracted digital being in the real world, unsure of what the future holds. For 15 years, Disney couldn’t get that story right. Do we really think it can now?
Of course, that’s not the only tease we get at the end of Tron: Ares. In the mid-credits, we pick up with Julian Dillinger on his Grid. It’s been largely destroyed, thanks to the work of the Encom team, but as he looks out, an identity disc emerges. We hear the word “Sark” whispered as Julian grabs the disc and is overtaken with a digital overlay that fans of the original film will find very familiar.
In the original Tron, the program in control of the Grid, the Master Control Program, was in large part personified by its second in command, Sark, who had the same shaped helmet Julian begins to display here. Sark was played by David Warner, who also played Ed Dillinger in the film (and is seen numerous times in paintings in Tron: Ares). Basically, Sark was Dillinger’s digital doppelganger and as evil as they come. Eventually, he was defeated by Flynn and Tron, but (we guess) some of that code remains at Dillinger. And Julian is now in line to become the new MCP of the Grid. One in the image of his powerful, evil grandfather, Ed.
The question then becomes, will either of these storylines ever be paid off? We’ll have to wait and see what happens this weekend at the box office. But, suffice to say, Tron: Ares leaves the world of Tron with some very cool little threads to pick up should we ever return back to the Grid.
By Germain Lussier Published October 10, 2025
Fifteen years ago, the previous Tron movie, Tron: Legacy, ended with an impossibly exciting cliffhanger. Sam Flynn, son of Kevin Flynn, emerged from the Grid having found his father and returning with Quorra, a digitally created being whose mere existence was poised to change the face of history, humanity, the universe, and all of it. Then, nothing happened. The film didn’t get a direct sequel, and it took almost two decades to return to the Grid.
That return happened this weekend with the release of Tron: Ares. Set in a world where those events happened, the story instead follows the new CEO of Encom, Eve Kim, who is in a battle over technology with her rival, CEO of Dillinger Corporation, Julian Dillinger.
In the end, though, well, some of these strands come back to light, so let’s break down what happens at the end and in the end credits of Tron: Ares. Massive spoilers to follow.
If you are still reading, we assume you’ve seen the movie, so we’ll skip over everything to the end. Having found and extracted the Permanence Code from the original Tron grid, Ares can now live his life in our world. After helping Eve defeat the Dillinger programs, Ares has escaped and written to her from Mexico. There, he’s attempting to become more human by seeing the world but, also, is seeking someone out. Ares has photos, as well as a last known location, for Quorra, a being he believes is just like him.
The assumption here is that Ares, a digital being who now exists in the world, is hoping to find Quorra, the only other digital being that exists in the world, to do… we don’t know what. Which, on the one hand, we like. As fans of Tron: Legacy and its ending, it’s nice that Tron: Ares eventually makes its way back to giving those events the resonance they deserve. On the other hand, this is almost the exact same ending as 15 years ago. Newly extracted digital being in the real world, unsure of what the future holds. For 15 years, Disney couldn’t get that story right. Do we really think it can now?
Of course, that’s not the only tease we get at the end of Tron: Ares. In the mid-credits, we pick up with Julian Dillinger on his Grid. It’s been largely destroyed, thanks to the work of the Encom team, but as he looks out, an identity disc emerges. We hear the word “Sark” whispered as Julian grabs the disc and is overtaken with a digital overlay that fans of the original film will find very familiar.
In the original Tron, the program in control of the Grid, the Master Control Program, was in large part personified by its second in command, Sark, who had the same shaped helmet Julian begins to display here. Sark was played by David Warner, who also played Ed Dillinger in the film (and is seen numerous times in paintings in Tron: Ares). Basically, Sark was Dillinger’s digital doppelganger and as evil as they come. Eventually, he was defeated by Flynn and Tron, but (we guess) some of that code remains at Dillinger. And Julian is now in line to become the new MCP of the Grid. One in the image of his powerful, evil grandfather, Ed.
The question then becomes, will either of these storylines ever be paid off? We’ll have to wait and see what happens this weekend at the box office. But, suffice to say, Tron: Ares leaves the world of Tron with some very cool little threads to pick up should we ever return back to the Grid.
The Writer of ‘Tron: Ares’ Talks Spoilers and the Movie’s Many Iterations Along the Way
The Writer of ‘Tron: Ares’ Talks Spoilers and the Movie’s Many Iterations Along the Way
Jesse Wigutow talks with io9 about the development of 'Tron: Ares,' including its ending.
By Germain Lussier Published October 10, 2025
If history has taught us anything, it’s that Tron sequels are never easy. Almost 30 years elapsed between the groundbreaking 1982 original and its 2010 sequel, Tron: Legacy. It then took a shorter, but still significant, 15 years for the third film, Tron: Ares, to be released, but that was never the plan. Many, many things changed over the years, and one of the people who was around for almost all of it was writer Jesse Wigutow.
Wigutow, who also worked on Legacy, was officially hired to write its sequel in 2012. By then, director Joseph Kosinski, as well as multiple writers, had already been working on it for almost three years, starting well before Legacy’s release. Only, that film wasn’t called Tron: Ares. It was called Tron: Ascension, and it would’ve followed the events of the previous film. But soon after, Disney bought Lucasfilm and took over Marvel, and the company no longer saw Tron as a priority.
Five years passed, but Wigutow never gave up hope. He was rewarded in 2017, when the franchise came back to life, this time with newly minted Oscar winner (and Tron megafan) Jared Leto leading the charge, and a mostly refreshed narrative. That was far from the end of the line, but now, eight years later, Tron: Ares is finally here. And what a journey it has been.
This week, io9 spoke with Wigutow over video chat to discuss all of those steps. We talked about how the film has changed from the beginning, why that happened, as well as some spoilery specifics about where the franchise could be going from here. Oh, and he’s also a producer on Daredevil: Born Again, so we talked about that, too.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Germain Lussier, io9: I’ve been following this movie forever, and it looks like you came on board around 2012 when there had already been a few writers. What shape was the movie in at that time, and what were your initial directives?
Jesse Wigutow: Coming out of Legacy, there was an interest in telling a more direct, continued sequel to that story. Carrying those characters forward, carrying that mythology forward into another chapter. And I was there for those conversations and part of that process. At a certain point, for a lot of different reasons, there was a kind of a pivot. And the pivot became, “Let’s take this character who had been a more kind of singular or two-dimensional villain in a different concept and build a movie around him.” And that became Ares.
io9: So when you first came on board what was then called Tron: Ascension, did you kind of start from scratch, or did you kind of look at what other writers had done?
Wigutow: Yeah, I worked on Ascension and had taken the torch from Dave DiGilio, who had a great draft. [He’s a] great writer. But it was a different version of the movie, which again, I did a lot of work on that iteration of it. And then a lot of different things kind of came to pass, more of a corporate decision, I think, than anything else. And then when it became the Ares movie, that was from the ground up.
io9: Right, I know there was a lot of work done on the film in those years before it kind of went away. When that did happen, did you ever think it would come back like this?
Wigutow: Yes. I mean, as a writer, you have to be realistic about the landscape and kind of keep putting one foot in front of the other and dive into other work and other projects, other worlds. [But] I always remain connected and hopeful about Tron. And at a certain point, it did come back and it came back with a lot of energy and this new concept. And, again you try to remain hopeful. But there is this sense of like, who knows? Who knows if this actually ever gets off the ground and gets shot. But it was super satisfying when it did.
Ares and his unique disc. – Disney
io9: My understanding is that a big part of that was Jared Leto’s passion for it, so what was it like when you realized we’re going to reimagine this little with new direction? What was it like getting that call and starting again?
Wigutow: I got the same call you’ve already heard about it in a certain way, that there’s an opportunity to rebuild this in a different direction. I sat down with Jared, his producing partner, Emma Ludbrook, some of the other producers like Justin Springer. And, you know, kind of spitballed. And I think the way it worked was I think I came back with maybe a single page, and in a way, going back and looking at that single page, it remains, with some adjustments and a couple of different moves here and there, the blueprint for the movie that you see on screen.
io9: Did you understand the choice at that point to kind of take those Tron: Legacy elements and push them to the side? Did you agree with it? Did you understand? Were you disappointed by it?
Wigutow: I would say neither. I mean, I was excited about the possibility of a new direction. Certainly, having worked on Legacy, and being in the conversations around Ascension, I felt a certain kind of connection myself to the Sam/Quorra [story]. Obviously, Flynn’s character has to be a part of any Tron chapter. So, you kind of look at what the landscape is, and there was an opportunity to do something a little different. And in my mind, to be honest with you, it presented this [opportunity] to do something a little smaller and a little more character-based. And that’s super exciting. Of course, I was being a little naïve.
io9: Yeah, it’s not small.
Wigutow: Not at all. If this thing’s going to go. It’s going to be it’s going to be a big movie. But I think we found a really nice balance.
The lightcycles of Tron. – Disney
io9: Oh, definitely. So, at that point, what was the most challenging thing about the movie? What was it finding that balance? Was it making it more of an Ares hero journey? Because I guess the one element you did have is the Grid coming to the real world, right? I feel like that was the one thing that’s always been there the way through.
Wigutow: Yeah. That was very much, obviously, part of the design from the get-go. And I really, really was excited about that reversal of the ratio of time spent in the Grid versus time spent in the real world. You know, I think what’s been most challenging, interesting, and serendipitous in certain ways ultimately has been the explosive growth of AI from day one of this conversation to where we are today. And in a way, we’ve been kind of chasing the technology. Every draft of the script has been challenged by new breakthroughs in technology. But I also think what’s been interesting is seeing what started out as this kind of positing some sci-fi supposition has become not 50, 70, 100 years into the future, but maybe three minutes into the future.
Note: The interview now gets into spoilers about Tron: Ares. Afterward, there are a few teases of Daredevil: Born Again season two, so come back with that photo.
io9: You mentioned that Flynn kind of has to be a part of a Tron thing, but one thing that’s not there this time is Tron himself. Talk about the decision to not have Tron in this movie.
Wigutow: I think there was a conversation at one point. At a certain point in the development, it just wanted to make this its own thing. And it wasn’t that there was a choice to say “We don’t need Tron.” There just wasn’t a role in this story that was obvious. And to kind of shoehorn it in felt, I don’t know, like it wasn’t necessary.
io9: Right. And obviously, this movie is written with plenty more places to go. The ending did remind me of Legacy, though in that, once again, a digital being is now in the real world, not sure of their place. Was that parallel a conscious decision by everybody?
Wigutow: Maybe subconscious. It’s part of, again, the kind of genetic mapping of the franchise. I love the kind of ellipsis that the movie leaves itself off on. He’s out there. He’s learning. He’s growing. He’s developing. And who knows where we may find him next and what he looks like and what, you know, what he’s grown into.
io9: Whose idea was for the mid-credit scene with Dillinger kind of getting Sark-y?
Wigutow: Man, I don’t even remember where that comes from. There were a couple of different iterations of the mid-credit coda. It just felt like it completed Evan’s story in a really satisfying way and also excites the real hardcore fans who understand what we’re positing and opens the door for, if we get so lucky to do another one of these.
io9: So in the end, Ares goes off looking for Quorra. If you’re lucky to make another movie, and it is kind of a merging of the two, are there elements from the development of Ascension that could be used?
Wigutow: That’s a great question. I don’t know that I have thought about it quite in that way, other than the fact that Ascension… I don’t know, is the answer. We’ll find out if there’s an opportunity or a conversation around doing another one of these at one point. It’s kind of above my pay grade. Right. But I do think it’s an exciting idea anyway, potentially, that Ares and Quorra find each other.
io9: Right. And the movie has a lot of teases of like, why did Sam stop working for Encom? Did it have to do with Quorra? Things like that.
Wigutow: Yeah. I mean, there are some similar themes in that regard when we think about Eve and the conversation around her future. But yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I would love the opportunity. But it’s out of my hands.
io9: Super nerdy, weird question. What exactly is Ares? In your mind, does he have human biology? What is inside of him? What do you think he is in reality as he’s walking around?
Wigutow: That’s a very good question, man. I do think [that]. I think that there is this kind of unspoken, natural resource, that’s probably quite valuable, that is fueling those lasers. And there’s something about the kind of genetic binding that can’t live beyond the time limit that we put on it, that the Permanence Code then makes binding. So in a way, if you were to kind of slice them in half and do a diagnostic or autopsy, yeah, I’d like to believe that you would find human biology. But I don’t know that that’s the correct answer.
End spoilers.
io9: Lastly, just bring it back to Tron, what does it feel like now that the movie’s coming out and you’ve seen it grow through so many different iterations? What are you feeling in this moment about all the work you’ve done?
Wigutow: A lot of satisfaction. A lot of relief, in a way. Sometimes disbelief. I mean, I said to a couple of the producers at the premiere, like it’s just bananas that we’re actually here. That this moment has happened and is happening. So yeah, it’s been so spread out and there’s been so many starts and stops. I actually, on a personal level, was struggling to be present at the premiere and really soaking it in and appreciating what was happening. But certainly was able to get there and certainly by the next day, I was like, “God, that’s so crazy.” So it’s been a lot of fun, and I feel kind of blessed.
Jesse Wigutow talks with io9 about the development of 'Tron: Ares,' including its ending.
By Germain Lussier Published October 10, 2025
If history has taught us anything, it’s that Tron sequels are never easy. Almost 30 years elapsed between the groundbreaking 1982 original and its 2010 sequel, Tron: Legacy. It then took a shorter, but still significant, 15 years for the third film, Tron: Ares, to be released, but that was never the plan. Many, many things changed over the years, and one of the people who was around for almost all of it was writer Jesse Wigutow.
Wigutow, who also worked on Legacy, was officially hired to write its sequel in 2012. By then, director Joseph Kosinski, as well as multiple writers, had already been working on it for almost three years, starting well before Legacy’s release. Only, that film wasn’t called Tron: Ares. It was called Tron: Ascension, and it would’ve followed the events of the previous film. But soon after, Disney bought Lucasfilm and took over Marvel, and the company no longer saw Tron as a priority.
Five years passed, but Wigutow never gave up hope. He was rewarded in 2017, when the franchise came back to life, this time with newly minted Oscar winner (and Tron megafan) Jared Leto leading the charge, and a mostly refreshed narrative. That was far from the end of the line, but now, eight years later, Tron: Ares is finally here. And what a journey it has been.
This week, io9 spoke with Wigutow over video chat to discuss all of those steps. We talked about how the film has changed from the beginning, why that happened, as well as some spoilery specifics about where the franchise could be going from here. Oh, and he’s also a producer on Daredevil: Born Again, so we talked about that, too.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Germain Lussier, io9: I’ve been following this movie forever, and it looks like you came on board around 2012 when there had already been a few writers. What shape was the movie in at that time, and what were your initial directives?
Jesse Wigutow: Coming out of Legacy, there was an interest in telling a more direct, continued sequel to that story. Carrying those characters forward, carrying that mythology forward into another chapter. And I was there for those conversations and part of that process. At a certain point, for a lot of different reasons, there was a kind of a pivot. And the pivot became, “Let’s take this character who had been a more kind of singular or two-dimensional villain in a different concept and build a movie around him.” And that became Ares.
io9: So when you first came on board what was then called Tron: Ascension, did you kind of start from scratch, or did you kind of look at what other writers had done?
Wigutow: Yeah, I worked on Ascension and had taken the torch from Dave DiGilio, who had a great draft. [He’s a] great writer. But it was a different version of the movie, which again, I did a lot of work on that iteration of it. And then a lot of different things kind of came to pass, more of a corporate decision, I think, than anything else. And then when it became the Ares movie, that was from the ground up.
io9: Right, I know there was a lot of work done on the film in those years before it kind of went away. When that did happen, did you ever think it would come back like this?
Wigutow: Yes. I mean, as a writer, you have to be realistic about the landscape and kind of keep putting one foot in front of the other and dive into other work and other projects, other worlds. [But] I always remain connected and hopeful about Tron. And at a certain point, it did come back and it came back with a lot of energy and this new concept. And, again you try to remain hopeful. But there is this sense of like, who knows? Who knows if this actually ever gets off the ground and gets shot. But it was super satisfying when it did.
Ares and his unique disc. – Disney
io9: My understanding is that a big part of that was Jared Leto’s passion for it, so what was it like when you realized we’re going to reimagine this little with new direction? What was it like getting that call and starting again?
Wigutow: I got the same call you’ve already heard about it in a certain way, that there’s an opportunity to rebuild this in a different direction. I sat down with Jared, his producing partner, Emma Ludbrook, some of the other producers like Justin Springer. And, you know, kind of spitballed. And I think the way it worked was I think I came back with maybe a single page, and in a way, going back and looking at that single page, it remains, with some adjustments and a couple of different moves here and there, the blueprint for the movie that you see on screen.
io9: Did you understand the choice at that point to kind of take those Tron: Legacy elements and push them to the side? Did you agree with it? Did you understand? Were you disappointed by it?
Wigutow: I would say neither. I mean, I was excited about the possibility of a new direction. Certainly, having worked on Legacy, and being in the conversations around Ascension, I felt a certain kind of connection myself to the Sam/Quorra [story]. Obviously, Flynn’s character has to be a part of any Tron chapter. So, you kind of look at what the landscape is, and there was an opportunity to do something a little different. And in my mind, to be honest with you, it presented this [opportunity] to do something a little smaller and a little more character-based. And that’s super exciting. Of course, I was being a little naïve.
io9: Yeah, it’s not small.
Wigutow: Not at all. If this thing’s going to go. It’s going to be it’s going to be a big movie. But I think we found a really nice balance.
The lightcycles of Tron. – Disney
io9: Oh, definitely. So, at that point, what was the most challenging thing about the movie? What was it finding that balance? Was it making it more of an Ares hero journey? Because I guess the one element you did have is the Grid coming to the real world, right? I feel like that was the one thing that’s always been there the way through.
Wigutow: Yeah. That was very much, obviously, part of the design from the get-go. And I really, really was excited about that reversal of the ratio of time spent in the Grid versus time spent in the real world. You know, I think what’s been most challenging, interesting, and serendipitous in certain ways ultimately has been the explosive growth of AI from day one of this conversation to where we are today. And in a way, we’ve been kind of chasing the technology. Every draft of the script has been challenged by new breakthroughs in technology. But I also think what’s been interesting is seeing what started out as this kind of positing some sci-fi supposition has become not 50, 70, 100 years into the future, but maybe three minutes into the future.
Note: The interview now gets into spoilers about Tron: Ares. Afterward, there are a few teases of Daredevil: Born Again season two, so come back with that photo.
io9: You mentioned that Flynn kind of has to be a part of a Tron thing, but one thing that’s not there this time is Tron himself. Talk about the decision to not have Tron in this movie.
Wigutow: I think there was a conversation at one point. At a certain point in the development, it just wanted to make this its own thing. And it wasn’t that there was a choice to say “We don’t need Tron.” There just wasn’t a role in this story that was obvious. And to kind of shoehorn it in felt, I don’t know, like it wasn’t necessary.
io9: Right. And obviously, this movie is written with plenty more places to go. The ending did remind me of Legacy, though in that, once again, a digital being is now in the real world, not sure of their place. Was that parallel a conscious decision by everybody?
Wigutow: Maybe subconscious. It’s part of, again, the kind of genetic mapping of the franchise. I love the kind of ellipsis that the movie leaves itself off on. He’s out there. He’s learning. He’s growing. He’s developing. And who knows where we may find him next and what he looks like and what, you know, what he’s grown into.
io9: Whose idea was for the mid-credit scene with Dillinger kind of getting Sark-y?
Wigutow: Man, I don’t even remember where that comes from. There were a couple of different iterations of the mid-credit coda. It just felt like it completed Evan’s story in a really satisfying way and also excites the real hardcore fans who understand what we’re positing and opens the door for, if we get so lucky to do another one of these.
io9: So in the end, Ares goes off looking for Quorra. If you’re lucky to make another movie, and it is kind of a merging of the two, are there elements from the development of Ascension that could be used?
Wigutow: That’s a great question. I don’t know that I have thought about it quite in that way, other than the fact that Ascension… I don’t know, is the answer. We’ll find out if there’s an opportunity or a conversation around doing another one of these at one point. It’s kind of above my pay grade. Right. But I do think it’s an exciting idea anyway, potentially, that Ares and Quorra find each other.
io9: Right. And the movie has a lot of teases of like, why did Sam stop working for Encom? Did it have to do with Quorra? Things like that.
Wigutow: Yeah. I mean, there are some similar themes in that regard when we think about Eve and the conversation around her future. But yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I would love the opportunity. But it’s out of my hands.
io9: Super nerdy, weird question. What exactly is Ares? In your mind, does he have human biology? What is inside of him? What do you think he is in reality as he’s walking around?
Wigutow: That’s a very good question, man. I do think [that]. I think that there is this kind of unspoken, natural resource, that’s probably quite valuable, that is fueling those lasers. And there’s something about the kind of genetic binding that can’t live beyond the time limit that we put on it, that the Permanence Code then makes binding. So in a way, if you were to kind of slice them in half and do a diagnostic or autopsy, yeah, I’d like to believe that you would find human biology. But I don’t know that that’s the correct answer.
End spoilers.
io9: Lastly, just bring it back to Tron, what does it feel like now that the movie’s coming out and you’ve seen it grow through so many different iterations? What are you feeling in this moment about all the work you’ve done?
Wigutow: A lot of satisfaction. A lot of relief, in a way. Sometimes disbelief. I mean, I said to a couple of the producers at the premiere, like it’s just bananas that we’re actually here. That this moment has happened and is happening. So yeah, it’s been so spread out and there’s been so many starts and stops. I actually, on a personal level, was struggling to be present at the premiere and really soaking it in and appreciating what was happening. But certainly was able to get there and certainly by the next day, I was like, “God, that’s so crazy.” So it’s been a lot of fun, and I feel kind of blessed.