“TRON Betrayal” bridges the gap between Disney’s 1982 original and “TRON Legacy”

Jim Hill

14 years ago

How many of you remember how the original "TRON" ended? With
Tron battling the MCP (i.e. Master Control Program) …

… and ultimately defeating it. Which then resulted in all of
the MCP's extremely restrictive security measures being shut down. Which meant that information could once again
flowing freely through cyberspace. Which – in the virtual world – is about as
close as you're going to get to a Disney-style happy ending.

But if the original "TRON" ended with virtually blue skies
and everything seemingly made right in cyberspace … Then what the hell happened
between 1982 and 2010? I mean, given the virtual world that we've seen so far
in all those ads & trailers for "TRON: Legacy," the cyber universe now
seems to be this dark and forbidding place.

And what's the deal with those two versions of Jeff Bridges that
appear in this Joseph Kosinski film? One appears to be a Kevin Flynn (i.e. the
name of the character that Bridges played in the original "TRON") who has aged
naturally …

… while the other
version of Jeff Bridges … Well, he looks
just like the Kevin Flynn character did back in 1982.

Well, if you want to find out what actually went on in the "TRON"
world between 1982 and 2010, might I suggest that you pick up a copy of Jai
Nitz & Starlight Runner Entertainment's "TRON: Betrayal" (Disney Press,
November 2010) …

… an original graphic novel which serves as a prequel (of
sorts) to "TRON Legacy." At the very least, "TRON Betrayal" does an excellent
job of filling in that gaping plothole that sits between the 1982 "TRON" film
and its soon-to-be-released follow-up.

(Interesting side note here: The "TRON Evolution" video game
– which hits store shelves on December 7^th — will cover some of the
same turf as this graphic novel. But there are pieces of the storyline leading
up to "TRON Legacy" that will only be revealed if you play the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii
and/or Sony PSP
versions of "TRON Evolution."

And to make matters
worse for all you completists out there, there are chunks of the "TRON" back story
/ mythology that have been parceled out to individual game systems. So the only
way to know everything that went on inbetween the original "TRON" film and "TRON
Legacy" is play all of these video games PLUS the "TRON" phone apps that are
out there.

Now as to what happened, story-wise, between "TRON" and "TRON
Legacy" ….

WARNING, PROGRAMS … There be spoilers ahead. So if you want
to walk into "TRON Legacy" without knowing some key plot points for this motion
picture in advance, now would be a very good time to derezz.

Still there? Okay. Here it comes …

"TRON Betrayal" picks up a few months after the end of "TRON."
Kevin Flynn is now the CEO of ENCOM. And he's trying to do right by the company
he's in charge of, his new friends in the virtual world as well as his
brand-new family …

But there are only so many hours in a day. And what
particularly complicates things is that time in the virtual world (which is
measured in cycles, rather than days) moves much more quickly than it does in
the real world.

And since Kevin can't be in two places at the same time … Well,
he creates a second version of Clu. A program that you may recall for the opening moments of the original version of "Tron." This was that tank-driving version of Jeff Bridges which Flynn sent into ENCOM systems. With the hope that Clu would then be able to uncover proof that Flynn had actually invented the super-popular Space Paranoids video game and had subsequently been robbed of this credit by the company's sinister senior executive, Ed Dillinger (played by David Warner).

However, since the original version of Clu had been derezzed in the opening moments of "Tron," Kevin now had to create an all-new Clu. A new & improved virtual version of himself …

… who could then serve as his proxy in cyberspace while Flynn was
out in the real world raising his young son, Sam as well as trying to appease ENCOM's
board of directors.

But what Kevin hadn't counted on was that the programs that
he created would continue to grow & mutate while he was away. More to the
point, that the citizens of this virtual
world that Flynn watches over would eventually grow frustrated with their absentee
landlord.

Which would then turn to resentment.

As for the rest of the story
contained in "TRON Betrayal" (which features some absolutely
beautiful art by Jeff Matsuda &
Andie Tong), this graphic novel does a pretty terrific job of setting up the back
story for "TRON Legacy" without giving all of the surprises in this Joseph
Kosinski film.

But what this 128-page paperback does reveal is really quite
intriguing. So if you just can't wait 'til December 17^th to find out
what happened between the original "TRON
" and "TRON Legacy," go pick yourself up
a copy of "TRON: Betrayal."

Your thoughts?