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When “Tron: Ares” was first announced, “Tron” fans were baffled, to say the least. Although the sequel was being made 15 years after “Tron: Legacy,” “Ares” involved none of the characters from previous adventures (save for Jeff Bridges’ cameo appearance as the supposedly deceased Kevin Flynn, playing a version of the character that’s wildly vague<\/a>). Instead, it not only had a new director in Joachim R\u00f8nning and a new writer in Jesse Wigutow, but a new leading role played by Jared Leto. As “Ares” continues to underperform at the box office upon its release, the confusion has only increased, with several pundits openly wondering why Disney thought that Leto, who’s been the subject of multiple sexual misconduct allegations and who hasn’t had a blockbuster hit under his belt since 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” would be the right man to bring “Tron” back to theaters.<\/a><\/p>\n As it happens, a third “Tron” film probably wouldn’t have happened at all were it not for Leto’s involvement. During the period when “Legacy” director Joseph Kosinski was attempting to put together a direct sequel entitled “Tron: Ascension,”<\/a> Leto was cast as a new character in that project named Ares. It’s not clear what Ares’ role would’ve been in “Ascension.” Wigutow told Polygon<\/a> that the abandoned film was “a very big sequel to ‘Legacy'” and a “multi-narrative” story that involved all the prior main characters from the first two “Tron” movies. Whatever the case, Leto apparently latched onto the part, so much so that when “Ascension” was cancelled shortly before production by a sci-fi-shy Disney, Leto wouldn’t let it go. It turns out that Leto is a lifelong fan of “Tron,” and to rise from the ashes of “Ascension,” the star and producer made Ares the focus of the sequel, which ended up getting made.<\/p>\n