Tron: Ares director addressed the "lack of heart" in previous movies by putting emotion at the center of the sci-fi threequel "I need to connect with the emotional core of the movie"

Tron: Ares director Joachim Rønning has been forthright on where he believes the third film in the iconic sci-fi franchise can improve on its predecessors.

"For me as a filmmaker, it's not enough just to have action; I need to connect with the characters, I need to connect with the emotional core of the movie," Rønning says in the new issue of SFX magazine, which features Predator: Badlands on the cover and hits newsstands on Wednesday, September 10.

"If I should say any critique of the previous movies, it's that I feel they lacked a little bit of heart, and I don't want to watch a movie without heart. That was very important for me to get that into the story and into the movie."

To that end, Rønning aims to inject some more pathos in the neon-infused world of light cycles and systems, namely through the emergence of Jared Leto's Ares, a program suddenly thrust into the 'real' world.

"As an audience, hopefully you will see the world a little differently when you see it through [Ares'] eyes," Rønning says.

That emotional attachment will also come through Greta Lee's Eve, a computer programmer who opens up to Ares after a traumatic past.

"For Eve, she's coming out of a deep tragedy that she has to learn to cope with. She's given up in many ways until she meets Ares, and together they discover life and humanity."

Not a subscriber to SFX? Then head on over here to get the latest issues sent directly to your home/device!

Tron: Ares releases in cinemas on October 10. Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which will be available from Wednesday, September 10. Here's the Predator: Badlands cover you need to be looking out for on newsstands below...