Superhero Media: Tron

Ok, so Tron is pretty far from being any kind of superhero film, but I'm going somewhere with this, I promise, so stick with me. A groundbreaking, but overly dense and mythological film, Tron wasn't the first to use CGI, but did popularise it more so than most. Looking back at how computers and networks are now, Tron is pretty  laughable, but I remember computers being magic boxes that only a few people understood or owned, so it's not much of reach if you're in the right mindset. What, on the surface, appears to be a by-the-numbers science fiction outing for children, with the protagonist transported to a new and strange land, turns out to actually be a secular treatise on messianic mythology and the use of religion by totalitarian regimes. Ok, so a little of that is probably me reading too much Campbellian Monomyth into Tron, but I've always felt there was more to this film than most are seeing, and time kind of bore me out on that one. 

Flynn, a computer programmer turned arcade owner, agrees to help his friends Alan and Lora break into the Master Control computer and find evidence of criminal activity when he is sucked into "the grid", taking on the role of a program, Clu. Teaming up with Tron and some other Programs, Clu need to escape "the games" and make their way across the grid to communicate with the users and take down the Master Control Program [MCP]. In a way, Tron managed to predict discussions of Net Neutrality and the ubiquity of tech industries like Google and Apple in how the world is run, not that it was at all deliberate or intended at the time. The only factor which enables the oppressed programs to throw off their shackles is the presence of Flynn/Clu, the "user made bits" (read God made Flesh), who can work miracles, even resurrecting the derezzed, empowering Tron to meet his destiny. Again, I've been reading Joseph Campbell and Michel Foucault for my Masters Degree, so forgive me on this one. 

If Tron was just another disappointing film that Disney released in the 1980s to try and capitalise on the popularity of Star Wars, then I doubt I'd be bothering with it, but there is something there. Be it the iconic elements of Tron, like light cycles and video games as gladiatorial combat, or the unintended prediction of a network of global computers overseen by one element grown bloated and unstoppable, or perhaps the elements of the monomyth therein, Tron remains popular with many to this day. I think there is room for something like Tron in superhero storytelling, especially when combined with elements from similar concepts like Reboot and even Super Smash Bros; many video game characters are almost superheroes already, so why not have them team up to battle evil? This idea has been rattling around my head for a while, so expect to maybe see it on the table at some point.