Tron: Ares’ Welcomes Fans to the Grid With Gorgeous SDCC Footage

At the Tron: Ares panel at San Diego Comic Con, Disney unveiled clips of two different high-speed lightcycle chases. Fans have already had a glimpse of one of them in the film’s promotional material, while another is all new for the convention. Collider’s Meredith Loftus was on the scene in San Diego.

At the panel, the filmmakers showed off two of the franchise’s iconic light cycle chases. In the first clip, the programs Ares (Jared Leto) and Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) are sent after Eve (Greta Lee) by Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters). Eve takes off on her own motorcycle, but soon she’s fighting for her life against the ruthless Athena. However, she manages to knock the program down and take off on Athena’s stolen lightcycle. In the second, Ares and Eve are in the Grid, attempting to escape back to reality as Athena and her drones pursue them. He’s defying orders to help her, because she has a code than he needs. The two reluctantly work together to evade their pursuers and make it back into the real world. Can our reality survive an invasion by the indestructible artificial beings of the Grid…and will they survive contact with their creators? You’ll have to upload yourself into the theater on October 10, 2025, to find out.

What Is ‘Tron: Ares’ About?

A follow-up to 1982’s Tron and 2010’s Tron: Legacy, Tron: Ares is the continuation of the pioneering science fiction franchise that explores the digital world of computer programs in the hyper-styled landscape of the Grid. The film stars Leto as the titular Ares, a sentient program from the Grid. He has been sent into the real world to be used as a super-solder by tech genius Julian Dillinger (Peters). However, Dillinger does not seem to have reckoned with the true power he’s unleashed. Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), the programmer who was the first human sucked into the Grid, and was rescued from it decades later, may be the only salvation of two different worlds. The film also stars Gillian Anderson, Hasan Minhaj, Sarah Desjardins, and Arturo Castro.

Tron: Ares was helmed by Norwegian director Joachim Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil), from a script by Jesse Wigutow (Daredevil: Born Again) and a story by Wigutow and David Digilio (The Terminal List). It features a score and soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails.

Tron: Ares will be released on October 10, 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.