As CinemaCon’s screens glowed red with anticipation, Disney unleashed a first look at Tron: Ares, revealing Jared Leto as a cybernetic force crossing from code into corporeality. It’s been over a decade since Tron: Legacy flickered across theaters, and now, under the direction of Joachim Rønning, this cult tech-saga is being reengineered for the 2020s with all eyes on Leto’s enigmatic character, Ares.
The brief but electrifying teaser shown at CinemaCon showcased neon-drenched motorcycles tearing through highways, laser fire slicing police cars in half, and a city under siege by the digital realm. Then comes Leto—his face lit in crimson—as Kevin Flynn’s (Jeff Bridges) ghostly voice warns, “Ready? ‘Cause there’s no going back.”
Ares Steps into the Real World
For fans of the franchise, the revelation that Tron: Ares would catapult its main program into the human realm is more than just a plot twist—it’s a bold reimagining. Jared Leto, an actor known for metamorphic roles, dives into this new challenge as Ares, a powerful program whose mission is cloaked in secrecy. Unlike his previous roles, where physical transformation was key, here Leto inhabits the sleek menace of a program born from circuitry but tasked with navigating humanity.
Collider’s Britta DeVore described the footage as “jarring and thrilling,” underlining how Leto’s Ares is “neither hero nor villain, but something far more dangerous: a digital anomaly with purpose.” Meanwhile, Collider’s Steve Weintraub learned from Rønning that the film is nearly complete, with final tweaks expected through summer 2025. This perfectionist approach, combined with the visual innovation glimpsed in the teaser, promises a movie that honors Tron‘s legacy while slicing a new path.
Jared Leto’s Digital Odyssey
What makes Leto ideal for this role is his history of exploring outsider archetypes. From the damaged brilliance of Requiem for a Dream to his theatrical villainy in Suicide Squad, Leto thrives in ambiguity. With Ares, he’s embracing an entity that is not just alien, but fundamentally non-human. The CinemaCon teaser revealed Ares moving through the real world with a mix of precision and unease, as if every footstep recalibrates the fabric of reality itself.
The cast surrounding him further amplifies this surreal fusion of the organic and the synthetic. Greta Lee and Evan Peters are joined by The Acolyte‘s Jodie Turner-Smith and Gotham‘s Cameron Monaghan, each seemingly aligned to explore their own version of “the glitch in the system.” And with Nine Inch Nails crafting the score, replacing the iconic Daft Punk, there’s a promise of industrial rawness replacing synthetic sleekness.
New Code, Same Legacy
In one of the most intriguing teases, Evan Peters plays Julian Dillinger, whose lineage connects to the original villain Ed Dillinger (David Warner). This generational thread gives fans of the 1982 film a nostalgic thread to hold onto, while signaling that Tron: Ares is deeply aware of its roots. However, the true revolution lies in how it brings The Grid into our world.
Disney’s ambitions for this sequel seem aimed not at recreating Tron, but at recontextualizing it. By focusing on Jared Leto’s Ares—a program caught between identities, systems, and dimensions—the film positions itself as more than just another legacy reboot. It becomes a meditation on technology and selfhood, through the lens of a character built entirely from code.
So, will Leto’s Ares be the messiah of the machine or a virus in disguise? The grid may be cracking open, but audiences will have to wait until December 19, 2025, to decide.
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