From the Grid to Our World: TRON: Ares Official Trailer

Tomorrow will mark the first day of San Diego Comic-Con, and Disney is preparing for its big San Diego debut by dropping a new trailer for TRON: Ares, the upcoming sequel in the long-running sci-fi franchise. Directed by Joachim Rønning, TRON: Ares is the first TRON film to move away from the Grid and into the real world.

The last time we ventured into the Grid was in 2010 with TRON: Legacy, which follows Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), son of TRON’s hero Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges). At the end of the film, Sam stopped the Grid’s sinister program Clu from using his portal technology to merge the digital and real worlds. He also saved Quorra (Olivia Wilde), an isomorphic algorithm (ISO) being, from deletion by Clu.

The next TRON film was going to continue exactly where Legacy left off. Disney officially greenlit a third TRON movie back in October 2010, and the film was expected to focus on the story of Sam and Quorra as Sam takes over his father’s company, ENCOM. However, the studio put the brakes on a sequel as a result of the poorly performing sci-fi fantasy Tomorrowland. It was canceled in 2015.

The franchise was dusted off again four years later, in 2020, with the announcement of a reboot, again to be called TRON: Ares. However, the film would not serve as a direct sequel to Legacy. Despite not being a direct sequel to Legacy, it was announced that elements of scripts from previous phases of the project, which were developed as sequels, made it into Ares, including the title character. After running into a number of production delays and Hollywood shutdowns due to the recent labor strikes by guilds in the industry, TRON: Ares has finally completed production. It is scheduled to be released in theaters in the fall.

A plot synopsis by Disney reads: “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.” Jared Leto stars in the lead role as Ares. He is joined by Evan Peters as Julian Dillinger and Greta Lee as Eve Kim. The film also features Jodie Turner-Smith, Cameron Monaghan, Sarah Desjardins, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, and Gillian Anderson. Leto and Bridges are joined by veteran music act Nine Inch Nails, who will be composing the score.

Here’s a quick rundown of the new trailer

In April, Disney released the first trailer for TRON: Ares. While it was light on the plot, the trailer was packed with visual eye candy. Audiences could expect plenty of neon grids, swooshing lightcycles, and dizzying virtual vistas. This new trailer, released to coincide with San Diego Comic-Con this week, checks off all of those boxes while offering more substance to the story.

The trailer opens with what looks like a classic Silicon Valley tech keynote. Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) is onstage addressing an audience, explaining, “So much talk of AI and big tech today. 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.”

He then introduces the “ultimate soldier,” the being he has created. “He’s biblically strong, lightning fast, and supremely intelligent. And if he is struck down on the battlefield…” at which point Dillinger flings Ares to the ground in the middle of his presentation “…I will simply make you another.” This positions Dillinger as the callous CEO type who thinks he can build the future of AI at his whim.

But the trailer also suggests things may not be so simple. Dillinger believes Ares to be his creation and his creation alone. Ares, however, seems to have his quest; he is on the path to finding something he can’t quite put his digital finger on, quite literally, and his mission may not be as simple as Dillinger believes. This is a reminder to the AIs that made up the philosophy of the original, and one that is hinted at when Kevin Flynn is in the digital world speaking to this new threat in voiceover: “A malfunctioning program who wants to live, why is that?”

It will be exciting to see Leto’s Ares as a further development of the man vs. machine theme that has always been an underlying element in the TRON films. For long-time TRON fans, however, Bridges’ return as Flynn is a real hook on its own, and while Leto will be the star of the show, and he crosses over into the real world, will Flynn be the key to bridging the worlds?

In terms of style, the trailer is a feast for the eyes as Ares and Rønning’s direction takes audiences on a real journey that, visually at least, moves between the hyper-futuristic landscapes of TRON and grounded present-day settings. Toss in a score by industrial rock titans Nine Inch Nails, and you can expect a TRON film that will check all the boxes for returning audiences and serve as a worthy entry in the legacy of the franchise.

TRON: Ares had its ups and downs over more than a decade, but it’s finally here. The film is expected to be released in theaters on October 10, 2025.