TRON Franchise Evolves With Ares’ Dangerous Real-World Mission

There’s not long to go now until San Diego Comic-Con. But with its big presentation fast approaching, Disney is upping the ante with the release of a brand-new trailer for TRON: Ares, the next chapter in the classic sci-fi franchise.

Filmed under the direction of Joachim Rønning, TRON: Ares is another reboot of the story. However, whereas the previous films centered on an unseen virtual reality known as the Grid, Ares finds the franchise set in the real world.

TRON: Legacy (2010) was the last film to see Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the son of the first TRON movie’s star Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), venture into the Grid. As the final scenes saw Sam foil a plan by the heartless program Clu to merge the real world with the virtual, the program’s ultimate goal of a total merge is the focus of Ares. During his journey to stop Clu, Sam was joined by Quorra (Olivia Wilde), an ISO, or an extremely rare isomorphic algorithm that Clu had been hunting to delete.

The first film to be shot in the “real” TRON world was originally to be a direct sequel to Legacy. In October 2010, Disney officially greenlit a third TRON movie to follow in the footsteps of Legacy, which was set to follow Sam and Quorra as Sam took over his late father’s company, ENCOM. However, the production hit a speed bump. In 2015, Disney reported that the studio had pulled the plug on the sequel, after its proposed budget did not meet expectations, and allegedly thanks to the tepid box office performance of another of Disney’s sci-fi franchises, Tomorrowland.

The original concept was then rebooted in 2020, as a direct continuation, but as its reboot, rather than as Legacy. Elements of previous versions of the script were retained, however, including the Ares program, an artificial intelligence of major importance in previous incarnations of the story. Going through Hollywood’s recent lockdown due to the pandemic and stoppages from its two recent labor strikes, TRON: Ares is now complete and set to receive a limited theatrical release later this year.

Official Synopsis: “TRON: Ares follows 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,” reports Disney in its official synopsis. Jared Leto stars as Ares, with Evan Peters (Julian Dillinger) and Greta Lee (Eve Kim) as supporting leads. Joining them is a supporting cast that includes Jodie Turner-Smith, Cameron Monaghan, Sarah Desjardins, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, and Gillian Anderson. Returning from the original films is Jeff Bridges, reprising his role as Flynn, and the music is by Nine Inch Nails.

A ‘Deadpool’-Style Introduction: “Ares” Aims To Defeat Mankind

The first trailer, which was released in April, was a real treat for any TRON fan, with familiar neon-colored lines, digital interfaces, lightcycles, and virtual landscapes on show, if not much in the way of story. This week’s new trailer offers a new glimpse at TRON: Ares, but, as promised, it’s a look that keeps those aesthetics in place, but which also provides greater clarity in terms of the story’s central stakes.

It opens with a scene that sounds like it could have been set at a tech company’s annual keynote presentation. Julian Dillinger, played by Evan Peters, stands in front of a crowd and makes an ominous proclamation. “So much talk of AI and big tech today,” he tells the assembled crowd. “Virtual worlds, what are they going to look like? When will we get there? Well, folks. We’re not going there. They are coming here.”

Dillinger then reveals what he’s been building up to: his new “ultimate soldier.” “He’s biblically strong, lightning fast, and supremely intelligent. And if he is struck down on the battlefield…” — at this point, Dillinger thumps Ares, knocking him over mid-presentation — “…I will simply make you another.” If there’s any lingering doubt as to Dillinger’s true character, it goes out the window at that moment. A ruthless businessman who is delusional about the true power of AI, it’s clear at that moment in the trailer that Dillinger is something of a villain in the TRON: Ares story.

Of course, it also suggests that Dillinger is in for a surprise. The trailer certainly paints the picture that Ares might not be Dillinger’s to use as he sees fit. Ares begins his journey into the real world and starts a journey to find what he doesn’t know he’s looking for. What might that look like for Ares, or an AI as advanced as he is, is fascinating to consider. The trailer even suggests there will be a more philosophical element to the film’s story when Kevin Flynn makes an appearance in the virtual world to ask, “A malfunctioning program who wants to live, why is that?”

TRON: Ares has had a long road, but it’s finally almost here. And if the trailer and new details are anything to go by, TRON: Ares is certainly set to be worth the wait. For all TRON: Ares fans, you can pencil in the October 10, 2025, release date on your calendars now.