Now that the world is only ever impressed by storylines that are self-described by the filmmakers as “darker” and allow audiences to tell their friends things like, “Oh, yeah, this one’s much darker,” Tron 3 would also like to get involved in that sort of thing, and is hoping to veer into said dark territory should it ever find itself green-lit and in a movie theatre near you – because that’s what you want, isn’t it?

Speaking out recently about the future of the series, director Joseph Kosinski likened the proposed third installment in the franchise to that of Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strike Back, using that movie (once again) as shorthand for implying proceedings could get a little bit darker. You can read what he said in full below:

“Well the only reason to go back, for me and I think for anyone involved would be if we could do something truly spectacular. We’ve been talking about it for a couple years and there’s always been this idea, a big idea, in the back of my head that we’ve been talking about. The idea itself, the notion of what the next Tron could be, is exciting enough that it would be worth going back to do it. Obviously we hinted some things at the end of Legacy, it’s kind of there for people to see what that potential is. So we just want to make sure that we have a script that delivers on that promise on an epic scale.” “I’ve said it would have to be our Empire Strikes Back for me to come back and for me to pull the whole team back together. I think we do have that idea. We do have the idea that feels big and really blows the doors off this franchise. It’s hinted at promises of something for two movies now, for thirty years, so it’s time to deliver on that. But the script’s got to be at a level that makes it worth going back for, because it’s a lot of work to make a movie like this and it’s a multi-year project. So we’ve got our writer Jesse Wigutow on it right now writing, and fingers crossed if it all comes together, as we hope it will, there could be another Tron in the next few years, and it’s going to be awesome.”

Questioned as to whether he might begin work on Tron 3 after he finishes with Tom Cruise and Oblivion, Kosinski said:

“There is certainly a chance, like I said; we’re writing the script now. Sometimes with these things all the pieces fall into place. I mean, we’ve been talking about this for years and we don’t have the script now, but sometimes things fall into place very quickly, and if everything lines up it could happen. That’s all I can say, it’s too early.”

What do you think? Would you like to see Tron 3 moving into darker territory? Or is this one franchise that should be shut down once and for all? Let us know in the comments section below.