Cillian Murphy Revealed as Sark in Scrapped Tron Concept Art
A newly surfaced piece of concept art from the Tron Universe is turning heads online, showing what Cillian Murphy might have looked like as the franchise’s next big villain. The scrapped design offers fans a striking glimpse at a direction the digital saga initially considered but ultimately left behind.
Phil Saunders shares scrapped concept art of Cillian Murphy’s Sark
Concept artist Phil Saunders recently dropped some never-used concept art from Tron: Legacy, and it reveals a pretty wild early idea, one that imagined Cillian Murphy stepping in as the villain Sark. Saunders said the sketch came from one of his very first tasks on the sequel, assigned by production designer Darren Gilford during the film’s early development phase.
While sharing the artwork, Saunders explained the piece was designed as a quick visual pitch to possibly tempt Murphy back after his brief cameo as Edward Dillinger Jr. In his words, the illustration was essentially meant to draw the actor into returning and expanding the junior Dillinger storyline.
Saunders also explained in the post that he was “thrilled” to be working on the design. He said he was excited to put his own spin on Sark’s classic look, creating a fresh variation of the iconic costume. The design itself took heavy inspiration from legendary comic artist Moebius.
Murphy ultimately did not appear in Tron: Ares as Dillinger Jr, leaving the Sark concept on the cutting-room floor, even though he had a brief but pivotal setup role in Tron: Legacy. Still, the reveal reignited fan interest in what a larger villain arc for Dillinger’s son might have looked like within the Grid’s evolving mythology.
Addressing why Cillian Murphy and his character didn’t show up in Tron: Ares, director Joachim Rønning kept it pretty straightforward. He said the creative team wanted to steer the franchise into fresh territory, and the new story simply didn’t require “need the old characters to be front and centre” (via Collider).
Online reaction was swift and enthusiastic. Commenters praised the unused design, with one fan writing, “Incredible art, it’s a shame it didn’t happen in the actual movie,” while another added, “So cool seeing what could’ve been.”
Originally reported by Rishabh Shandilya on SuperHeroHype.
Source: Comingsoon.net