Tron: Aresplot centers around artificial intelligence, but it looks like Disney actually considered using it in the film.Tron: Aresis the third film in the surprisingTrontrilogy, following the cult-classic 1982 movie,Tron,and 2010 sequel,Tron: Legacy. Where past films have shown humans going into the digital world, this third entry will bring the programs into the real world in an explosive confrontation between humanity and artificial intelligence.
In a recent report by theWall Street Journal, viaDeadline, Disney executives “pitched the idea of actually incorporating AI into one of the characters in the sequel…as a buzzy marketing strategy.” The AI character would have been a sidekick to Jeff Bridges' character, Flynn. It is unclear exactly what the extent of the AI character or marketing strategy would have been, but the concept was scrapped because “executives internally were told that the company couldn’t risk the bad publicity.”
Disney Was Scared To Use AI…For Now
While it is good that Disney opted not to use AI inTron: Ares, recognizing how bad the optics are, it certainly isn’t a good sign they even considered it in the first place. Disney’s Marvel Television has already faced criticism for using AI in the title cards forSecret Invasion, which put doubt in people’s minds about what else could be incorporating AI, with even the first posters forThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsbeing accused of being AI-generated. Then Lucasfilm and ILM released theembarrassingly bad AI tech-demo of aStar Warsnature documentarythat was the worst thing to happen to that franchise (which is saying something).
Public sentiment is what prevented Disney from backing AI inTron: Ares, but if they ever got the inclination that people wouldn’t care, that implies they would embrace the technology. It feels like, more and more each day, major institutions and voices that are known for preserving film are slowly embracing AI to make audiences comfortable with it.IMAX is holding an AI film contest. Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz not only did a segment on the AI-enchanced version ofThe Wizard of Ozfor the Las Vegas Sphere, but then defended himself for the segment and the technology, citing it as the future.
Disney traded in one bit of bad publicity onTron: Aresfor another. Instead of discussing AI in their film, they are now dealing with the controversy surroundingJared Leto’s sexual misconduct allegations. Disney seemingly isn’t too worried about the allegations against Leto since they had him as part of theTron: AresSan Diego Comic-Con 2025 panel. Yet combining Leto with the idea that the film and Disney itself as a company even considered AI is a storm of bad press that could mark a potential third financial disappointment in theTronfilm franchise.
Source:Deadline
Tron: Ares
