The world of Tron returns to theaters next week with Tron: Ares, and it’s a world that’s much more complex than you may realize. Ares is the third film in the Tron franchise, which has also included an animated TV show, games, comics, and more. All of which works because in 1982, writer-director Steven Lisberger created this way-ahead-of-its-time computer world, with its own rules, language, and more.
Tron is all about world-building, both on screen and off. And short of sitting down to watch the previous two films (which, of course, we always recommend you do), we wanted to give you some of the basic story, characters, and rules of the world so you can jump into Tron: Ares on October 10 like a fully fledged user. Here we go.
The Grid
Imagine there’s a world inside your computer. Each program looks like a person, and you, at the keyboard or mouse, control them. That world is called “The Grid,” and it’s a place no one knew actually existed or could be accessed until Kevin Flynn did it.
Kevin Flynn
Played by Jeff Bridges, Kevin Flynn is a genius programmer who was fired by a company named Encom and opened his own arcade, Flynn’s. Encom is now run by Ed Dillinger, who stole and took credit for Flynn’s work. To attempt to prove he’s being ripped off, Flynn breaks into Encom and is subsequently sent onto the Grid by an evil security program called the MCP, or Master Control Program. Once on the Grid, Flynn realizes his computer skills make him a formidable force and, with the help of some other programs, he eventually destroys the MCP and proves that Dillinger ripped him off. At the end of the first film, he’s made CEO of Encom.
WTF is a Tron?
The film’s namesake, Tron, is the name of a heroic security program that protects the Grid. He’s played by Bruce Boxleitner (who also plays Flynn’s good friend Alan Bradley) and is one of the programs that helps Flynn defeat the MCP in the first film. The character returns in Tron: Legacy, first as the evil, reprogrammed “Rinzler,” before going back to the good guys and sacrificing himself for Flynn.
Tron is also the name of a game Kevin Flynn creates at Encom after his experiences on the Grid, which becomes incredibly popular in the world of the films.
Tron speak
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