With the announcement of TRON: Uprising, or TRON 3’s turbulent development. These unrealized prospects and untapped potential beg the question of how much good faith remains in another TRON sequel after so much disappointment.
In 2023, however, Disney announced it was revisiting TRON 3 with director Joachim Ronning. Premiering in 1982, TRON became a Disney cult classic starring actors Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner. Over two decades after TRON’s debut in theaters, Disney finally delivered a nostalgic reboot film, TRON: Legacy, that continued the story and hinted toward big plans for the franchise. Despite TRON: Legacy setting up a third movie with Edward Dillinger Jr. as its villain, played by sci-fi movie alumni Cillian Murphy, TRON 3 became trapped in development hell.
Cillian Murphy's Absence In TRON 3 Would Be A Big Mistake After TRON: Legacy
In 2010, the hype for Cillian Murphy in a TRON 3 movie was real. The foreshadowing was there, and despite Murphy’s character having such a small role in TRON: Legacy, Bruce Boxleitner commented back in 2014 (via Mandatory), "...you don’t get Cillian Murphy to do an unscripted cameo," hinting at the actor’s future involvement in TRON 3. If Murphy fails to return for the now-confirmed TRON 3, his absence would be breaking a more than decade-long promise made by TRON: Legacy, and the threequel could struggle to make the long wait worthwhile as it reinvents the series.
After Bruce Boxleitner told the press he was supposedly done with the TRON franchise in 2015, and with Jared Leto proving divisive casting for TRON 3, it is vital that the sequel finds familiar faces to reprise their roles. In a film series so heavily ed by nostalgia and rooted in its past, it would be devastatingly disappointing not to see any of TRON’s previous characters return. Although Cillian Murphy may not be the first name associated with TRON, he is among the most obvious returnees due to the franchise foreshadowing Edward Dillinger Jr. as a future villain, and such a talented actor would surely do the late David Warner’s Edward Dillinger justice in the role of his son.
How Edward Dillinger Jr. As A Villain Would Have Helped TRON 3
Although Jeff Bridges’ CLU was a villain audiences loved to hate, Edward Dillinger, Sark, and the M were the series’ most iconic antagonists. Not only would it make narrative sense for Dillinger’s son and the M to return as TRON 3’s villains, Cillian Murphy's comeback would bring the Disney sci-fi franchise full circle by returning to where the story began. Although the Grid made for an impressive setting, it sometimes felt disconnected from the original TRON and left unanswered questions about what happened after. Including Edward Dillinger Jr. presents plenty of storytelling opportunities while bridging the gap between past, present, and future via his father’s legacy, the malicious M.
With a promising villain and a looming threat that has been haunting the series since 1982, the stage was set for TRON 3 over a decade ago. Times have changed, and as Disney attempts to revitalize its TRON franchise, it seems there is no better time to capitalize on TRON’s past, not only for the sake of nostalgia, but to tap into the unrealized potential lost in its previously promised trilogy. Although impossible to imagine what a TRON 3 sequel movie will bring, Cillian Murphy's Edward Dillinger Jr. could save the nostalgic reboot with a story worth telling.
