third installment

This story contains spoilers for “Tron: Ares.”

Get ready to enter the Grid: “Tron: Ares” has finally hit theaters.

Directed by Joachim Rønning, “Tron: Ares” is the third installment of the classic sci-fi franchise that kicked off with the 1982 film “Tron.” And like many modern movies that are part of an expansive Hollywood franchise, “Tron: Ares” makes sure to leave the door open for future storytelling.

“Tron: Ares” does so in the closing moments of the movie’s main story as well as in a stinger that plays after the credits start to roll.

The film, which picks up sometime after the events of “Tron: Legacy” (2010), stars Jared Leto as an advanced AI program named Ares created by Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), a programmer and rising CEO of a tech corporation. Greta Lee portrays Eve Kim, also a programmer and the CEO of the tech company once led by original “Tron” hero Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges).

Although extensive knowledge of the previous films is not necessarily required to understand “Tron: Ares,” fans of “Tron” and “Legacy” will be the first to recognize the significance of the doors that the film leaves open. (Turn back now if you want to avoid spoilers.)

Evan Peters as Julian Dillinger in “Tron: Ares.”

(Leah Gallo / Disney)

The mid-credits scene is a callback to ‘Tron’

“Tron: Ares” ends with Julian — the grandson of Flynn’s original “Tron” rival, Edward Dillinger — escaping into Dillinger Corp.’s Grid.

The mid-credits scene shows Julian taking in the wreckage of his digital world before noticing and activating his identity disc. After taking ahold of the glowing circular object, his digital suit starts to form in a familiar silhouette.

Those who have seen “Tron” will recognize that Julian’s suit resembles that of Sark, the villainous program written by Ed Dillinger, who led the original film’s Master Control Program army. In “Tron,” Sark was played by David Warner, who also portrayed Ed.

The scene further cements Julian as the successor to his grandfather’s legacy and leaves the possibility open for his return as a villain in a future “Tron” installment.

Jared Leto as Ares in “Tron: Ares.”

(Leah Gallo / Disney)

‘Tron: Ares’ ends by teasing a future link-up with ‘Tron: Legacy’

The new “Tron” movie ends by hinting that Ares’ story is not quite over, either. In the final moments of the film, Ares is shown looking at images of Quorra, a character portrayed by Olivia Wilde in “Tron: Legacy.”

Quorra, like Ares, started her existence in the Grid and eventually made her way out into the real world. But Quorra isn’t a man-made program; she is an “isomorphic algorithm,” or a digital being who spontaneously came into existence in the Grid. She was introduced in “Legacy” as Flynn’s charge who was learning about humanity from him.

Could a meeting between Ares and Quorra be in the “Tron” franchise’s future? Only time (and likely “Tron: Ares’” box office returns) will tell.

The “Avatar: Fire and Ash” trailer is finally here.

The third installment in James Cameron’s “Avatar” series returns to Pandora and introduces a new Na’vi tribe: the Mangkwan Clan, also known as the Ash People, led by the fierce Varang (Oona Chaplin).

While not much is known about the Mangkwan Clan and its leader, the trailer offers a first look at their ashen home, destroyed by a volcanic eruption. The footage positions Varang, who wears a red headdress and can manipulate fire, as an adversary to Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and her family. It’s a stark departure from 2022’s “The Way of Water,” which took viewers underwater into the world of the Metkayina Clan.

The trailer also shows a tense exchange between Varang and Kiri (Sigourney Weaver): “Your goddess has no dominion here,” the fiery leader, donning a red and black headdress, says.

“Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship. She’s hardened by that,” Cameron told Empire in an interview published in January. “She will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil.”

In addition to the Ash People, the trailer includes a look at the Wind Traders, a nomadic Na’vi clan that travels aboard airborne ships drawn by massive jellyfish-like creatures. It also teases that the film will see Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) being captured by humans.

Also returning to the ensemble are Kate Winslet (Ronal) and Jack Champion (Spider). In addition to Chaplin, David Thewlis joins the cast as Peylak, the chief of the Wind Traders.

The trailer was first unveiled at CinemaCon in April and was launched exclusively in theaters ahead of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which opened Thursday.

“Fire and Ash” comes three years after “Way of Water” and 16 years after the original film. The first two movies were nominated for best picture at the Oscars and “Way of Water” was the highest-grossing film of 2022. But Cameron has hinted that the third installment may be surprising to fans of its predecessors.

“One thing we wanted to do in this film is not be black-and-white simplistic,” he told Empire. “We’re trying to evolve beyond the ‘all humans are bad, all Na’vi are good’ paradigm.”

“Fire and Ash” hits theaters Dec. 19. The fourth and fifth installments are expected Dec. 21, 2029, and Dec. 19, 2031, respectively.