How ‘Tron: Ares’ and its end credits scene link the franchise’s past to its future

This story contains spoilers for “Tron: Ares.”

Get ready to enter the Grid: “Tron: Ares” has finally hit theaters.

Directed by Joachim Rønning, “Tron: Ares” is the third installment of the classic sci-fi franchise that kicked off with the 1982 film “Tron.” And like many modern movies that are part of an expansive Hollywood franchise, “Tron: Ares” makes sure to leave the door open for future storytelling.

“Tron: Ares” does so in the closing moments of the movie’s main story as well as in a stinger that plays after the credits start to roll.

The film, which picks up sometime after the events of “Tron: Legacy” (2010), stars Jared Leto as an advanced AI program named Ares created by Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), a programmer and rising CEO of a tech corporation. Greta Lee portrays Eve Kim, also a programmer and the CEO of the tech company once led by original “Tron” hero Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges).

Although extensive knowledge of the previous films is not necessarily required to understand “Tron: Ares,” fans of “Tron” and “Legacy” will be the first to recognize the significance of the doors that the film leaves open. (Turn back now if you want to avoid spoilers.)

The mid-credits scene is a callback to ‘Tron’

“Tron: Ares” ends with Julian — the grandson of Flynn’s original “Tron” rival, Edward Dillinger — escaping into Dillinger Corp.’s Grid.

The mid-credits scene shows Julian taking in the wreckage of his digital world before noticing and activating his identity disc. After taking ahold of the glowing circular object, his digital suit starts to form in a familiar silhouette.

Those who have seen “Tron” will recognize that Julian’s suit resembles that of Sark, the villainous program written by Ed Dillinger, who led the original film’s Master Control Program army. In “Tron,” Sark was played by David Warner, who also portrayed Ed.

The scene further cements Julian as the successor to his grandfather’s legacy and leaves the possibility open for his return as a villain in a future “Tron” installment.

Jared Leto as Ares in “Tron: Ares.”

(Leah Gallo / Disney)

‘Tron: Ares’ ends by teasing a future link-up with ‘Tron: Legacy’

The new “Tron” movie ends by hinting that Ares’ story is not quite over, either. In the final moments of the film, Ares is shown looking at images of Quorra, a character portrayed by Olivia Wilde in “Tron: Legacy.”

Quorra, like Ares, started her existence in the Grid and eventually made her way out into the real world. But Quorra isn’t a man-made program; she is an “isomorphic algorithm,” or a digital being who spontaneously came into existence in the Grid. She was introduced in “Legacy” as Flynn’s charge who was learning about humanity from him.

Could a meeting between Ares and Quorra be in the “Tron” franchise’s future? Only time (and likely “Tron: Ares’” box office returns) will tell.