Tron: Legacy Foreshadowed The Batman’s Best Scenes 12 Years Early
A viral Instagram reel is stoking debate that The Batman cribbed visual flair from Tron: Legacy, lining up sweeping wides and brooding bike runs that look uncannily alike.
File this under 'unexpected crossovers': a side-by-side reel on Instagram is making the case that Matt Reeves' The Batman shares some very specific visual DNA with Joseph Kosinski's Tron: Legacy. The comparisons are tight enough that you do a double take, which is probably why the clip is blowing up.
The viral reel and what people are seeing
The video, posted by @blurayangel, lines up shots from both movies and, yeah, the overlap is striking. Fans are debating whether Reeves flat-out copied or just nodded to Tron: Legacy, but for now that's all speculation. Neither Matt Reeves nor Joseph Kosinski has said anything about the other movie.
- Wide-angle compositions that frame characters against sweeping, stylized cityscapes
- Batman on the bike with a low, gliding camera perspective that mirrors Legacy's sleek ride visuals
- A smooth tracking shot pairing that feels like a one-to-one echo
- Batman gliding off a rooftop in a way that recalls Legacy's high-altitude, neon-drenched momentum
Homage or copy?
My read: calling it 'copying' is a reach. Film language overlaps all the time, and these feel more like purposeful visual rhymes than theft. The Batman clearly values mood, motion, and negative space the way Legacy does. If anything, it plays like Reeves tipping the cowl to Kosinski.
Quick detour: why Legacy pops where Ares stumbled
While we're here, Legacy's strengths highlight what people say didn't click in Tron: Ares. Kosinski built a world that felt tactile and alive; the score, the setpieces, the glow of the Grid — it all worked together. By comparison, Ares has been dinged for a hollow vibe: the world feels inert, the lead performance comes off static, and the movie never quite finds that shimmering, electric look. As a legacy sequel, it also struggles to carve out its own identity, leaning on the brand without the spark that made Legacy feel, well, legible and alive.
Tron: Legacy refresher
Directed by Joseph Kosinski and released in 2010, Tron: Legacy stars Olivia Wilde, Garrett Hedlund, and Jeff Bridges. It pulled in about $400 million worldwide, sits at 6.8/10 on IMDb and 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was produced by Walt Disney Pictures. If you want to revisit it, it's streaming on Disney+.
Where things stand now
Tron: Ares is currently screening in theaters in the U.S. If you've seen it, I'm curious: does the new movie change how you see those Batman/Legacy parallels?