Everything We Know About Tron: Ares

Put your quarter on the cabinet and stake your claim as ‘Next,’ as Tron: Ares is on the way. Does anyone reading this even understand that reference anymore? After a long delay, we are finally getting a new film in the franchise. The road was rough to finally get back on track, but soon, we’ll be back in the virtual world wishing we had a light bike. Here is everything we know about Tron: Ares, which is directed by Joachim Rønning.

Who Is In It?

The news that Jeff Bridges would be returning to the franchise made the series’ fans rejoice. Even before he came back to the project, the cast list was filled with notable faces and big names. The film is hoping to bring in new fans as well as fans of the other two films. First up is the obvious one:

Jeff Bridges

With the addition of Bridges to the cast, he becomes the only legacy member of the original films. Interesting, though, as they haven’t said who he is playing. Many assume he’ll be back as his character from the original film, Kevin Flynn rather than his evil alter ego from Tron: Legacy, Clu.

According to WSJ sources, Disney executives “pitched the idea of actually incorporating AI into one of the characters in the sequel to the 1980s hit movie Tron as a buzzy marketing strategy.” The character would have been a sidekick of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), but the idea didn’t move forward because the executives were told “that the company couldn’t risk the bad publicity.“

Jared Leto

Everyone’s favorite meme vampire, Morbius, is taking center stage for this film. He will play the title character of Ares. With his sometimes ethereal performances in films like Blade Runner: 2049, this seems like a good role for him, as he will embody an AI being sent into the real world. I’m curious to see how he will play the character and what his POV will be like as he experiences the real world for the first time.

Rønning told Empire, “Not to be too clichéd, but I always thought about him a bit like Pinocchio. Ares wants to be a real boy. We talked a lot about him almost being an infant, discovering the world for the first time, and how we wanted the audience to see the world through his eyes. The little things that we take for granted, or don’t see anymore. That was important. And then a bigger theme for the film is what it takes — what it means — to be human. Especially in this case, because he’s a computer program.“

According to Rønning, ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) treats Ares as “the Holy Grail of computer graphics.” Rønning says Tron: Ares will “elevate” the Tron landscape (The Grid) like audiences never thought possible, taking the iconic world “to the next level.” Rønning told Empire the film uses motion-controlled camera movements on The Grid, giving the impression that a machine instead of a human operates the camera. “The concept was that a program is filming a program,” he explains. “So it’s shot by a robot.”

Gillian Anderson

Everyone’s favorite red-headed FBI Agent, Gillian Anderson, joined the cast, but there has been no word on what her role will be in the film. Could she be the creator of Ares? Makes sense. We saw her as the god of Media in American Gods so she’s used to living in a virtual world inside of a screen already.

Others

Other notable names, including Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, and Sarah Desjardins round out the already stellar cast. With a cast like this, this film is the must-watch film of Fall 2025. With this much talent on screen and behind the camera, hopefully, we can expect a great film. Although a great cast doesn’t always mean a great film. With the production team from Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil involved, they are at least experienced with making high-budget films with a lot of post-production work.

What Took So Long?

A follow-up to Steven Lisberger’s 1982 classic Tron, Tron: Legacy came out in 2010 and was pretty profitable for a sequel to an 80s film. Why did it take so long to get another film? A lot happened between then and now. The same creative team began work on a sequel just after release. As things went on, it was confirmed that some of the cast members, like Bruce Boxleitner, Olivia Wilde, and Garrett Hedlund, would be returning.

In March 2015, the sequel was officially announced, but by May, it was canceled. The reason seemed to be the underperformance of Tommorowland. Executives at Disney said there were still discussions happening about the future of the Tron franchise but nothing seemed to materialize for a sequel. During a 2017 Q&A, Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski stated that he believed the purchase of Marvel and Lucasfilm by Disney took up most of the company’s attention.

With major franchises that were guaranteed money-makers, Disney seemed less interested in taking on other films that were riskier investments. If they could make a billion dollars on a new Star Wars film or an Avengers movie, why would they spend $200 million dollars on something that could very well break even? The sequel was officially dead.

Instead, it was later decided to reboot the franchise. Rather than follow up on the previous film, they would tell an all-new story set in the established universe of Tron without having to worry about keeping the story going from the previous films. Just as Tron: Ares was moving forward to film in the summer of 2023, it was delayed once again by the writer and actor strikes. It finally began production on January 1st, 2024, and wrapped on May 1st.

While Daft Punk provided the score for Tron: Legacy, the score from this one is being composed by Nine Inch Nails.

What’s It About?

This film will flip the typical formula of Tron films. Instead of someone getting pulled into the virtual world, an AI character will make their way into the real world. I’m sure we’ll spend time in both settings, but this change could be a welcome one for viewers. We’ve seen characters interacting with the virtual world through two movies, and let’s be real. Most of us seem to interact more with the virtual world than the real world every day. With the discussion of AI being at the forefront of everyone’s mind lately, this is the perfect time to use this subject for the Tron films. It’s already a built-in part of the series showing how the over-reliance on computer technology can lead to bad things. We might as well try it again with AI in the real world.

Scripted by Jesse Wigutow and Jack Thorne, Tron: Ares is said to tell the story of a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings.

JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray was in attendance for the Comic-Con panel where footage was shown, and he sent in the following report: Kevin Smith was the moderator and joked that the stage entrance they did cost more than Clerks. The whole cast was there, including Jeff Bridges and the original TRON director Steven Lisberger. Bridges said, “It’s so cool man! It’s such a fun world to be a part of and AI is on everyone’s minds these days. The Grid abides!” Steven Lisberger: “As far out as TRON originally was, it became real life. We need to kick this technology around artistically before it kicks us around. That’s what TRON’s all about. That, and Bridges’s courageous acting. He has been a gift to TRON since day one.” Lisberger is happy if TRON inspired others – like The Matrix. Smith noted they didn’t nominate TRON for VFX at the Oscars because using computers was considered cheating. Lisberger says it wasn’t that they were early, it’s that everyone else is late.

Jared Leto was the one who pushed for another movie. He says he’s a legit huge fan, going back to when he was a kid in 1982. Also says Bridges is a hero of his. He says when he was young movies like TRON gave him something to dream of. Says he has worked on getting the movie made for nine years and it all started with just one word, ARES. Bridges said on set Leto only wanted to be called Ares. But instead he called him Air instead because he wanted some intricacy with him, but also didn’t want to disrespect him. Leto also said he blew the first scene they shot together because he couldn’t stop smiling. Bridges said him and Leto got along because they are both “music cats” and says for Leto acting is like a thing on the side.

Greta Lee says she’s in TRON just because she wanted to ride a light cycle. She had never been to Comic-Con before and said it wasn’t what she expected. She said that, for some reason, she thought everyone would be wearing masks. She’s crazy excited to be in a movie like this and said the movie will play to both the superfans and people who don’t know anything about TRON.

A clip was show in which Athena, Jodie Turner Smith’s character, enters the world to retrieve code for Lee’s character Eve. The music is awesome, very Nine Inch Nails but done on old school synths so it sounds like Wendy Carlos’s score for the original. The scene showed the two programs on Lightcycles in the real world chasing Eve on her regular motorcycle. Seeing the lightcycles in the real world is nuts. The action is incredible and everyone is going to want to own the score. At some point, Eve gets Athena’s lightcycle, but that’s where the clip ends

Turner revealed a bit about the premise which seems to be that Ares, being in the real world, becomes compassionate and more human while Athena goes in the other direction.

Evan Peters seemed to have no idea how to answer any questions, and Smith jokingly called him “Dahmer quiet.” Gillian Anderson said she’s done Hall H before a few times and it seemed bigger back then. Cameron Monaghan says seeing the sets – which were practical – absolutely blew his mind. They actually built pieces of the Grid.

Then more footage was shown. Athena is clearly the bad guy, working for Dillinger (Peters), while Ares is the hero, trying to protect Greta Lee’s character. He was assigned to delete her by Dillinger but could not bring himself to kill a human. Now her and Ares are on the run in the Grid, which looks a lot different than in Legacy – more of a dystopia with red lighting. Ares is red, but Greta Lee’s character is Blue. More NIN – the score also has vocals by Reznor so it really is a Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, not just Reznor/ Ross. Very cool looking movie.

Jared Leto loved the Daft Punk soundtrack on the last film and felt only NIN could fill their shoes. Smith asked him why 30 Seconds to Mars didn’t participate and he dodged the question. Also said the crew that worked on the movie was incredible and thinks they deserve to be celebrated. Then attendees watched a music video from the soundtrack for the NIN single “As Alive As You Need Me To Be,” which is available to download.

When Can We See It?

You won’t be able to see it until October 10, 2025. The Motion Picture Association ratings board has confirmed they’ve given the film a PG-13 rating and a very simple reason for that rating: violence/action.