‘Tron Ares’ Returns to the Grid With New D23 Footage

Get ready to get back in the Grid. Disney revealed the first footage from Tron: Ares this weekend at their D23 Expo. The film’s cast, including Jared Leto, Greta Lee, and Evan Peters also hinted at their characters’ roles in the film. In the first look at the film, which will be released in theaters on October 10, 2025, we see characters from the digital world invade the real world for the first time, in the form of Leto’s titular Ares.

The footage featured a police chase with the series’ iconic lightcycles, a series of surreal images, including a glowing orange digital tree in a snowstorm, and Gillian Anderson, whose role in the film remains a mystery. It concludes with the appearance of Kevin Flynn, Jeff Bridges‘ character who first explored the digital world in Tron and who was rescued from it in Tron: Legacy, appearing in a white robe.

What Details Did the Cast of ‘Tron: Ares’ Reveal About Their Characters?

Leto revealed that his character, Ares, is the Master Control Program of the Dillinger Grid – the previous Master Control Program, of course, was the nigh-omnipotent digital villain of the first Tron film. Lee will play Eve Kim, a brilliant human computer programmer. And Peters revealed that his character is Julian Dillinger, who has a last name familiar to Tron fans – Ed Dillinger (David Warner) was the sinister head of ENCOM in the first Tron, while his son, Ed Jr., was played in a cameo appearance in Tron: Legacy by Cillian Murphy. Peters’ Steve Jobs-esque character is presumably related to both of them.

Tron: Ares was directed by Joachim Rønning (Young Woman and the Sea), after original director Garth Davis (Lion) dropped out. Steven Lisberger, who wrote and directed the original Tron, is producing. The film will also star Hasan Minhaj (It Ends With Us), Jodie Turner-Smith (The Acolyte), Arturo Castro (Broad City), Cameron Monaghan (Gotham), and Sarah Desjardins (The Night Agent). The film’s music will be provided by Nine Inch Nails, following in the footsteps of Wendy Carlos and Daft Punk.

Tron: Ares will be released on October 10, 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for all our D23 coverage this weekend.