In 1982, the world of cinema was zapped into a new reality. The film Tron tells the story of Kevin Flynn, a gifted video game developer who runs a popular arcade. He claims his best games were stolen by his former employer, the tech giant ENCOM, and its senior executive, Ed Dillinger. Flynn's mission is to hack into ENCOM's system to find the evidence that proves his work was stolen.

His attempts to breach the system are constantly thwarted by the Master Control Program, or MCP, an advanced AI that has grown far beyond its original programming. The MCP has secretly taken over ENCOM's mainframe, absorbing other programs to increase its own power and control.

Flynn seeks help from two friends still working inside ENCOM: Alan Bradley, a brilliant programmer, and Lora Baines, an engineer. Alan has created a powerful security program named "Tron," designed to monitor communications and act independently of the MCP. He hopes Tron can expose Dillinger's theft and keep the MCP in check.

Worried about this new program, the MCP tightens its grip on the system. When Flynn breaks into ENCOM to find the proof he needs, he comes face-to-face with an experimental laser designed to digitize real-world objects. The MCP turns the laser on Flynn, pulling him apart molecule by molecule and reassembling him inside the computer world.

Flynn is no longer in the real world. He's on the Grid, a stark, neon-lit landscape existing within the mainframe. Here, programs are living, thinking beings that look just like the humans who created them, known as "Users." Life for these programs is brutal. Under the MCP's rule, they are forced to compete in deadly gladiatorial games. Programs that refuse or believe in the Users are sent to the game grid to be derezzed, which is the equivalent of being destroyed.

Flynn, now a captive program, is forced to fight for his survival in events like the disc wars and the iconic Light Cycle battles. He quickly realizes that his skills as a video game programmer give him an edge. He soon crosses paths with the program Tron, who is on a mission to fight the MCP and restore freedom to the system. Together, they team up to overthrow the tyrannical AI and find a way to get Flynn back to the real world.

The story follows their quest across the digital landscape as they try to reach the MCP's core, battling its ruthless enforcer, Sark, along the way. Flynn's unique status as a User gives them an advantage, allowing him to manipulate the digital world in ways that programs cannot. Their journey is a race against time to stop the MCP's plan for total domination.