Tron: Ares Needs to Answer This 15-Year-Old Franchise Question

Tron was a very prescient film for 1982, foretelling a future with AI acting in a near-human capacity. More than 40 years on from the release of the first film, we are living a version of that very reality. The 2010 sequel, Tron: Legacy, touched on many of the same themes featured in its predecessor while bridging the world of the original with a new cast of characters. Among the additions are Olivia Wilde’s Quorra and Garrett Hedlund’s Sam Flynn. Tron: Legacy ends with the aforementioned duo leaving the digital space and making their way into the real world. Seeing as the next series installment, Tron: Ares, is gearing up for release later this year, we would love to see the film address what happens to Quorra.

We know that Ares is set in the real world. So, with the ending of Legacy establishing that Quorra now exists within our realm, it seems reasonable that Disney might like to take a moment to tie up that storyline. However, based on what we know so far, we may be left wondering indefinitely.

Will Tron: Ares Address What Happened to Quorra After Entering the Physical World?

At this point, it appears that fans hopeful to see Sam and Quorra’s arcs resolved may be disappointed. There isn’t much evidence to suggest that the upcoming installment, which is billed as a soft reboot, will pick up where its predecessor left off.

RELATED – Tron Ares Reveals The Return of Jeff Bridges in New Set Photo

The limited details currently available regarding the latest film make reference to a program called Ares that leaves the digital space and enters the real world with designs to complete a dangerous objective.

The story details make absolutely no mention of Sam or Quorra, and neither Wilde nor Hedlund is attached (per the film’s official IMDb page). The picture’s IMDb listing does promise the return of Jeff Bridges as Flynn, though.

Tron: Ares stars Jared Leto as the titular Ares, with Greta Lee as “Eve Kim” and Evan Peters as “Julian Dillinger.” Additional cast members include Jodei Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, Sarah Desjardins, and Gillian Anderson. The omission of Hedlund and Wilde could theoretically be Disney pulling the wool over our eyes with deceptive marketing, or it might mean that the long-gestating sequel is retconning the ending of the previous film in service of telling a new story.

Either scenario is possible, however, it seems more likely that the studio would lean into the return of legacy characters rather than scrubbing their existence from all of the marketing materials to surprise us down the road.

With that said, we are still holding out hope that the impending threequel will, at the very least, make a passing reference to the previous installment and provide context on how things played out for Quorra. Although at this point, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Tron Has an Enduring Legacy and Remains a Lucrative IP for Disney

Tron was both a critical and commercial success. Film scholars connected with the cutting-edge visuals, and viewers turned out in droves to see the picture at the box office. The first film took in roughly $50 million globally in 1982. Tron: Legacy was less successful with critics, catching flak for placing style over substance, but the sequel managed to pull in approximately $400 million worldwide. That is quite an impressive showing for sure.

The film’s legacy is just as long-lasting offscreen as it is onscreen. Fans have been cosplaying as characters from the original film for decades, and the property remains a nostalgic sweet spot for many who grew up watching it.

With the release of Tron: Ares still a ways away, we may just have to wait for the answers we seek. At present, the status of Quorra’s fate remains unknown, though we are still hoping we’ll eventually get answers from the sequel.

What do you think about the direction of the upcoming follow-up effort? Are you holding out hope that we will see Quorra’s arc revisited? Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Tron: Ares, is set for release on October 10, 2025. While there was a Tron series in development at Disney+ several years back, the streamer pulled the plug on that project. Depending on how Ares fares at the box office, there may be renewed interest in a small-screen adaptation.