Tron: Ares - Cast, Story Details & Everything We Know About Tron 3

The Tron franchise returns for a third time with Tron: Ares. Here's everything to know about its polarizing lead cast, its ominous story, and more.

Summary

• Tron: Ares, the highly-anticipated third installment in the Tron franchise, has faced numerous setbacks and production delays, including strikes that have forced indefinite delays and layoffs.
• Tron: Ares has finally established a production timeline, and reportedly begins filming in early 2024.
• Jared Leto's casting as the lead has been divisive, but he will be joined by Evan Peters in an undisclosed role, and other actors like Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith have also joined the cast.

Tron: Ares is the highly-anticipated third chapter in the Tron franchise, which kicked off in 1982 and continued with the 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy. Revolving around a virtual reality simply known as "the Grid," the franchise has dabbled in interaction with both morally good and corrupt computer programs. While the first Tron was praised for its groundbreaking visuals, Tron: Legacy also walked in its footsteps with its stunning light cycle battles, an iconic score by Daft Punk, and Oscar-nominated sound editing.

The production delay for a third Tron movie seems justified given how the first two movies shared a 28-year-long gap. The original wasn't a big enough hit for Disney to make an immediate sequel, yet after Tron gained a cult following, the studio decided to flesh out the franchise. Tron: Ares has also received many setbacks, including Disney scrapping the idea for another sequel completely in 2015 and original director Garth Davis being replaced by Joachim Rønning. Now, with Tron: Ares finally out of development hell, the third installment is on its way.

TRON: Legacy - What Went Wrong With Disney’s Long-Awaited Sequel

Tron: Ares Latest News

After setbacks, the latest news regarding the long-awaited sequel is actually positive and sees Tron: Ares set a production start time. Hampered by the Hollywood strikes for months, Tron: Ares has reportedly been scheduled to begin filming immediately after the holidays. This early 2024 start time is a significant delay considering the fact that the movie was supposed to begin filming in August 2023. However, it is still the first positive update for the film in a long time.

The WGA strike was resolved on September 27th, 2023, and the SAG/AFTRA strike was resolved on November 9th, 2023.

Tron: Ares Is Confirmed

Plans for a third Tron movie go back to 2010, ahead of the release of Tron: Legacy. In 2015, returning director Joseph Kosinski was confirmed for Tron 3 with stars Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde set to reprise their respective roles as Sam Flynn and Quorra. Shortly afterward, Walt Disney Studios canceled Tron 3. Then matters became more confusing in 2017 when Kosinski revealed during a Q&A (via Inside The Magic) that the sequel was still in the works but in a “cryogenic freeze." However, Disney did not offer any official confirmation.

It took a decade since Tron: Legacy’s release for Disney to again finally confirm a third Tron movie. Appearing on an episode of the Light The Fuse podcast that streamed in June 2020, Walt Disney Studios President of Music & Soundtracks Mitchell Leib confirmed that Tron 3 was very much in the cards for the studio. Leib even added that a script had already been written and Disney was actively seeking a director at that time. He also hoped for Daft Punk to return as composers for Tron 3, but considering that the French electronic duo broke up in 2021, Lieb’s wish seems like a distant possibility.

Original Tron Stars React To Upcoming Jared Leto-Led Threequel

Tron 3 Cast

Jared Leto’s Tron 3 casting has proven to be heavily divisive. Leto plays the titular lead role of Ares, and fans are already concerned because of the actor's troubled past with franchise films. Leto has proven his acting capabilities with his Oscar-winning performance as Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, yet Leto has also been behind some critically-panned roles like the Joker in the DC Extended Universe.

Leto will be joined by Emmy winner Evan Peters in an undisclosed role in Tron: Ares, and it seems clear that Peters will play a substantial part. It was also announced that Greta Lee will join the cast as a tech CEO with some valuable technology that needs protecting, while Jodie Turner-Smith joins in an undisclosed role.

Tron 3 Story Details

The project summary on Production List reveals a vague idea of what Tron: Ares would actually be about. Referring to the sequel as “a compelling exploration of Ares’ journey," it doesn’t give away much. While both Tron and Tron: Legacy were largely set in digital environments, the ending of Legacy had major repercussions for the future. Quorra stepped out into the real world in the first instance in the franchise when a program could turn human.

Considering that Jared Leto plays a character named Ares, the “journey” in question could be his visit beyond the Grid with damaging consequences for humans. Ares was the Greek god of war and is no stranger to creating discord. While Jesse Wigutow serves as Tron: Ares' screenwriter, Joseph Kosinski told Collider that his original Tron 3 script (titled Tron: Ascension) dealt with an invasion storyline set between the two worlds. If strands of Kosinski’s script do get incorporated within Tron: Ares, then an actual war of the worlds could ensue.

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  Tron: Ares

  Release Date:

  2025-12-19

  Director:

  Joachim Rønning

  Cast:

  Jared Leto

  Rating:

  Not Yet Rated

  Genres:

  Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure

  Writers:

  Jesse Wigutow

  Studio(s):

  Disney

  Distributor(s):

  Disney

  prequel(s):

  TRON, TRON: Legacy

  Franchise(s):

  Tron