Disney+'s 19-Part Sci-Fi Series Is A Better Tron Sequel Than Tron: Ares

While Tron: Ares wasn’t as bad as many of its critics suggested, its franchise predecessor, Tron: Uprising, is still the best Tron sequel to date. Released in July 1982, Tron was a big hit for its director Steven Lisberger. Earning over $50 million on a budget of only $17 million, the ambitious sci-fi adventure movie saw Jeff Bridges’ video game developer Kevin Flynn get trapped inside his own game. Via the then-emergent technology of CGI, Tron made Flynn’s predicament into a thrilling adventure, and set up an immersive fictional world that later installments of the series could explore further.

Since then, the Tron franchise’s legacy has grown with a pair of theatrical sequels and a spinoff Disney animated series that is often forgotten even by fans. 2010’s Tron: Legacy divided critics, as some felt director Joseph Kosinski’s nostalgic sequel was a fun return to the underdeveloped story of the original movie, while others felt it was an overlong letdown. However, 2012’s animated Disney XD series Tron: Uprising is inarguably a great extension of the franchise so far, and far stronger than 2025’s belated live-action sequel Tron: Ares.

Disney+'s Tron: Uprising Is The Best Tron Sequel Yet

Set between the events of the original movie and Tron: Legacy, Tron: Uprising focuses on Elijah Wood’s young computer program Beck. When Beck joins a revolution against Clu 2.0, Woods’ character takes on the persona of Tron himself, the protector of the Grid. The real Tron then trains Beck to battle Clu, hiding his own survival to ensure that the villain doesn’t track him down and finish the job. Meanwhile, Beck takes on Tron’s persona to inspire rebellion against General Tesler and Clu.

With a superb supporting cast that includes Mandy Moore, Bruce Boxleitner, and Nate Corddry, Tron: Uprising’s lineup is improved even further by the presence of Lance Henriksen as General Tesler and Emmanuelle Chriqui and Paule Reubens as his villainous henchmen. With a darker tone than both of its franchise predecessors, slick, highly stylized animation, and a typically killer soundtrack, Tron: Uprising is an unexpectedly mature and original spinoff that is arguably a better sequel to the original movie than either of its live-action follow-ups.

Tron: Uprising Keeps A Surprising Prequel Series Trend Alive

While it might seem surprising that Tron: Uprising is the best Tron sequel in the eyes of many, this shouldn’t necessarily come as a surprise. Especially in the world of sci-fi, where worldbuilding is pivotal, but screen time is limited, spinoff shows, and especially prequel series, can often outdo their movie counterparts. TV’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles remains the best Terminator project since the first two movies in the series, matched only by Netflix’s animated 2024 series Terminator: Zero.

Similarly, both Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Andor are among the most critically acclaimed projects in the entire sprawling Star Wars canon, even though both are spinoff TV shows that couldn’t exist without their theatrical movie counterparts. Where the messy Tron: Ares bombed at the box office, thanks to its full storyline and its lack of story stakes, Tron: Uprising had more time to develop its central characters and felt more propulsive as a result. This improved characterization resulted in higher plot stakes.

Thus, where many critics noted that Tron: Ares often felt like a pretty but empty visual album, Tron: Uprising used its larger canvas to tell a story that felt more emotionally involving and resonant. Its characters were more fleshed out, its relation to the earlier movies was more concrete, and its plot was less predictable since the spinoff show wasn’t as obsessed with visual spectacle. Thus, as unlikely as it may sound, Tron: Uprising outdid Tron: Ares as a Tron sequel over a decade before the disappointing follow-up arrived in theaters in late 2025.