With the release of Tron: Ares approaching, Disney has revealed the official timeline for all three Tron movies. After a 15-year hiatus, the beloved franchise is returning to the big screen this October, continuing the digital adventure led by Jeff Bridges.
The new *Tron* movie, *Tron: Ares*, is set 14 years after the events of *Tron: Legacy*. Producer Justin Springer recently told GamesRadar+ that the film, starring Greta Lee, Jared Leto, and returning actor Jeff Bridges, continues the story from where the previous movie left off. He explained, “We’re telling a story that’s 14 years later.”
We’re continuing the story 14 years later, and our priority is making sure it feels right. Simply including a lot of familiar faces just for the sake of it wouldn’t benefit the plot. We’re much more interested in finding ways to genuinely surprise and delight viewers.
Because of this significant gap between films, Springer and the Tron 3 team have been deliberate when it comes to what corners of the Tron mythology they touch and which they don’t:
“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.”
Ares marks the most recent project on the Tron franchise timeline, joining not just the two other Tron movies but the beloved Tron: Uprising series, several Tron video games, and a 2010 short film.
See the complete Tron franchise chronology below:
- Tron
- Tron Uprising
- Tron: Evolution
- Tron: The Next Day
- Tron Legacy
- Tron: Identity
- Tron: Ares
Tron: Ares ushers audiences back into the acclaimed Tron franchise, this time bringing the digital world to the real one in an epic battle unlike anything humanity has ever seen. The upcoming threequel follows a highly sophisticated program named Ares (played by Jared Leto), who is sent into the real world, forcing humans to reckon with their first interaction with a fully AI being. Leto leads the new movie, which also stars Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Jeff Bridges. Ares comes to theaters on Friday, October 10, and it features brand-new music from the beloved alt-rock group Nine Inch Nails.
The Full Tron Franchise Explained
Tron
The original 1982 movie Tron started the Tron franchise. It told the story of arcade owner and gifted programmer Kevin Flynn (played by Iron Man actor Jeff Bridges). The movie followed Flynn as he took on the villainous executives at his former employer, ENCOM, and was sent to the digital realm known as The Grid for the first time.
When personal computers first became popular, the original *Tron* movie kicked off a tradition of *Tron* films reflecting the technology and concerns of the era in which they were made.
The first Tron movie concludes in 1983 with Flynn gaining control of both ENCOM and the digital world within, The Grid. He becomes completely absorbed in reshaping this digital world, unfortunately causing him to miss important events in his personal life – a decision that will have consequences in the sequel.
Tron: Uprising
Released in 2012 on Disney XD, *Tron: Uprising* updated the *Tron* story, moving the setting from its original time to the 1990s. The popular animated series depicted a revolution happening within the digital world of The Grid.
Led by Elijah Wood’s Beck, Uprising saw the plucky young program take on the dastardly Clu (a recreation of ENCOM’s evil program from the first film). This resulted in the series lead assuming Tron’s persona and becoming a revolutionary figure among his fellow programs.
He finally finds the original Tron-a security program who assisted Flynn in the first movie-and together they lead a rebellion against Clu within the digital world of Argon City.
Tron: Evolution
Released before the 2010 film *Tron: Legacy*, *Tron: Evolution* explains how Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges, ended up trapped inside The Grid, the digital world seen in the sequel directed by Joseph Kosinski.
The 2010 video game is set around the same period as *Tron: Uprising*, though its precise place in the timeline isn’t known. The game tells the story of what happened after Flynn disappeared in the early to mid-1990s.
Players take control of a new program known as Anon, who is helping Flynn investigate a potential program-ending conspiracy inside The Grid. This culminates in Anon being decompiled by the villainous Clu, with Flynn and his new companion, Quorra, going into hiding as outcasts of the digital realm.
Tron: The Next Day
Tron: The Next Day was another piece of supplemental material meant to recount the events between the original Tron film and 2010’s Tron: Legacy.
Released as a part of Legacy‘s 2011 physical release, the 10-minute short follows the history of the Flynn Lives movement, which started after Jeff Bridges’ renowned programmer mysteriously went missing in the 1990s.
This includes brief interludes throughout the ’90s, ending in 2009, with Flynn’s son, Sam Flynn, restarting Flynn Lives and officially kicking off his hunt for his father—a quest that takes him to The Grid for the first time in Tron: Legacy.
Tron: Legacy
Like the original Tron, Tron: Legacy is contemporaneous with its release year, 2010.
The Joseph Kosinski-directed blockbuster took fans back to The Grid, telling the tale of Kevin Flynn’s estranged son, Sam Flynn (played by Garrett Hedlund), who receives a mysterious message from his long-lost father. Searching for his dad, Sam travels to the digital world and uncovers the secret of why his father went missing all those years ago.
This adventure includes another epic battle with the terrifying Clu. Kevin eventually sacrifices himself and takes down Clu. The movie concludes with Sam returning to the real world with his father’s digital companion, Quorra, backing up/deactivating The Grid.
Tron: Identity
Despite Sam Flynn’s best efforts in Tron: Legacy, The Grid could only stay locked away for so long. The iconic digital frontier returned in the 2023 video game Tron: Identity.
Identity takes place in 2023 on what is known as The New Grid (or Arq Grid), a recreation of Kevin Flynn’s digital world, free of user intervention.
The game follows a detective program named Query, tasked with investigating a break-in at the information center known as the Repository.
Tron: Ares
Let’s talk about the newest Tron project. Tron: Ares is the third movie in the series and is expected to be one of the biggest sequels of 2025. It takes the idea of mixing the real world with the digital world to a whole new level.
The upcoming film centers around Ares (Jared Leto), an artificial intelligence who enters the real world with a purpose, sparking a conflict between programs and humans. Set in 2025 – the year of its release – the movie explores current issues like artificial intelligence, how technology is taking over our lives, and the moral questions surrounding independent machines.
Jeff Bridges’ Kevin Flynn will return in the sequel, rising from the dead for one last fight for The Grid.
Read More
- LINK PREDICTION. LINK cryptocurrency
- Katanire’s Yae Miko Cosplay: Genshin Impact Masterpiece
- Wednesday’s Owen Painter Felt the Weird Vibes with Francoise Too
- Gold Rate Forecast
- USD THB PREDICTION
- USD PKR PREDICTION
- Here’s a look at Stardew Valley’s original concept. The 13 year old trailer shows just how much the game has changed
- NEXO PREDICTION. NEXO cryptocurrency
- “A waffle has many spheres” is puzzling you in Cookie Jam? We know the answer
- GBP EUR PREDICTION
2025-09-16 09:37