To summarize, Disney began work on a sequel to Tron: Legacy immediately. Legacy was meant to kick off a larger universe of movies and TV. As time went on, other expected hits flopped, and Disney acquired Star Wars and made it their new darling, the Tron sequel got shelved.
Jared Leto, who was going to have a minor role in Tron: Ascension, pushed to have a new movie made anyway, making his character the star. The result is that what was more of less going to be the third act of Ascension was fleshed out into a whole movie minus Sam Flynn, Quora, and Tron.
Imagine if Return of the Jedi was never made. Instead, the third act of the movie, the attack on the second Death Star, was turned into a whole movie but the continuation of the plots involving Han Solo, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker were completely cut out. Then Wedge Antilles was made the star of the movie and he personally confronted Chancellor Palpatine and saved the galaxy. That’s pretty much what has happened to the Tron franchise. :(
I’m talking about the teaser at the end of Legacy, I have not seen Ares yet. And I have no idea how or why they would continue the story of Tron without TRON.
At the end of Legacy, Dillinger Jr. is communicating with what appears to be a backup of the original MCP. But in order for that to resolve, they’d have to recast him. Which wouldn’t be horrible, because Cillian was barely in the movie and not even named on-screen, but he was a great choice for the role and Disney shuffling their feet with Tron for the last 15 years is probably what made him move on.
Ah, I hated Legacy so that makes sense why I never saw this. Yeah so many plotlines seem to be abandoned or unresolved as well as glaring holes in the world building. Why was this shit discovered in the 80s and towns didnt just become computers? Why is Encom seemingly known for games when they have a damn digitizing lazer? How did Dillinger’s company create their own without a lawsuit? Why is this the one franchise intent on destroying and wasting its original characters?