Top Gun: Maverick Filmmaker Distances Himself from Tron: Ares

Joseph Kosinski, the bloke behind Top Gun: Maverick and the director who first brought Tron: Legacy to the big screen, has made it clear he’s not on board with Disney’s latest sci-fi outing, Tron: Ares. Despite Ares being the third instalment in the Tron series, Kosinski told Empire Magazine it doesn’t pick up where his 2010 film left off.

Not the Sequel He Had in Mind

In a recent chat, Kosinski explained that while the new film borrows a few visual cues from his scrapped project, Tron: Ascension, the story’s been flipped on its head. The result? A film that feels more like a side story than a proper follow-up. As he put it,

I don’t really see it as a sequel. This definitely used elements of a movie I worked on, called ‘Tron: Ascension’, in terms of maybe some of the set pieces and visuals, but it really inverted the story and told it from a completely different point of view. So, I see it more like a parallel story as opposed to a sequel. But I’m thrilled that what Steve Lisberger created in 1982 still resonates today.

Although Kosinski’s name appears as an executive producer on Joachim Rønning’s Tron: Ares, he had nothing to do with the script. To make matters worse, Jared Leto’s turn as Ares didn’t exactly set the box office alight, pulling in $142 million against a hefty $180 million budget, making it one of 2025’s biggest flops.

Kosinski’s Vision for the Franchise

Kosinski’s reluctance to call Tron: Ares a true sequel isn’t just sour grapes. He had his own plans for a follow-up, but Disney lost interest after shifting focus to Marvel and Star Wars. Back in 2010, Tron: Legacy made $399 million on a $200 million budget, which was seen as a bit of a letdown at the time. Now, with Ares struggling, Legacy’s numbers look a lot more respectable.

Back then, Kosinski was still proving himself in the blockbuster world. His plans for Tron: Ascension were shelved, but in 2017 he shared what he’d hoped to do with the third film. He described an invasion story, with the action moving from the real world into the digital realm and back again:

What I’m excited about is the concept, which is an invasion movie from inside the machine coming out, as opposed to one we’ve usually seen. We hinted at that at the end of ‘Legacy’ […], but the idea for ‘Ascension’ was a movie that was, the first act was in the real world, the second act was in the world of Tron, or multiple worlds of Tron, and the third act was totally in the real world.

His idea was to blur the lines between humans and programs, with the story shifting between different digital worlds before landing back in reality. It would have been a direct continuation of Legacy, rather than a reset.

Could Kosinski Have Saved Tron?

Looking at what he had in mind for Tron: Ascension, you have to wonder if things might have turned out differently if Disney had let Kosinski take the reins on Tron: Ares. He understood the world better than most, having modernised the series with Legacy while still tipping his hat to the 1982 original. That balance is something Ares struggled to find, especially after changing direction so sharply.

Kosinski had a long-term plan for the franchise. Ascension was meant to build on what had come before, not start from scratch. Instead, Ares tried to reinvent the wheel, and the result didn’t win over punters or critics. For the record, Tron: Ares was directed by Joachim Rønning, starred Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, and Gillian Anderson, ran for just under two hours, and scored 53% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Disney’s Missed Opportunity

Kosinski’s recent track record suggests Disney may have missed a trick by not bringing him back. He’s turned F1 into a box office hit and revived Top Gun with a sequel that smashed expectations. If he’d been given the chance to carry on his vision for Tron 3, the franchise might have avoided its latest stumble.

Tron: Ares is now available to buy or rent on Prime Video.