Stepping off the grid and into the real world Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, the cast and filmmakers of the upcoming TRON: Ares offered a small tease of what awaits in the continuation of the decades-running franchise which will see artificial intelligence possibly pose its most imminent threat yet…

Here’s some of what we learned at the “TRON: Ares” panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025.

The panel was moderated by the filmmaker Kevin Smith and featured stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges, plus director Joachim Rønning, and producer Steven Lisberger to discuss the upcoming third installment in the TRON franchise.

Below are some of the highlights.

  • Story follows Ares, a sophisticated Program sent into the real world, marking humanity’s first encounter with AI beings.
  • Director Joachim Rønning emphasized that TRON: Ares is a “full-blooded cinema experience” about the search for humanity and identity.
    • “Ares’s journey is all about what it means and takes to be human. And trying to answer those questions is why I wanted to tell this story,” says Joachim Rønning. “I want to make movies for the big screen. That’s what I grew up with and what made me want to become a filmmaker. Cinema is my art form. And ‘TRON: Ares’ is just that: a full-blooded cinema experience. Myself, and hundreds of amazing craftspeople have worked our asses off for two years to make sure of that.”
  • Footage revealed during the panel included:
    • A thrilling light cycle chase scene
    • An extended first look at the Dillinger Grid, a digital world created by the character Julian Dillinger

      • <li “>An exclusive preview of the Nine Inch Nails music video for “As Alive as You Need Me to Be,” the film’s first soundtrack single

  • Jared Leto called himself a “Tron super fan” with this being a personal passion project that he’s been developing for nearly 10 years

    • He also gave special thanks to the crew, highlighting two months of night shoots in winter amongst other production challenges
    • He shared that in his first scene together with Jeff Bridges that he was so overwhelmed with excitement he surprised the crew calling “cut” mid-scene only because he could not stop smiling. “If I could work with you every day of the week,” he said on stage to Bridges, “I’d be a happy man.”
  • Greta Lee mused that she joined mostly for the chance to ride a lightcycle.
  • Cameron Monaghan said playing a digital program was “more fun” than being human
  • Smith mused, on Bridge’s account of getting along well on set with Leto: “Once you get together with Jared Leto, it’s morbin’ time.”
  • Practical sets were a major focus for production including rebuilding Flynn’s 1982 office and other physical environments rather than relying solely on CGI.
  • Fans received an exclusive SDCC “TRON: Ares” poster at the end of the panel.
  • TRON: ARES lands in theaters October 10, 2025

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San Diego Comic-Con takes place July 24 – July 27, 2025.

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