⚡👾 Tron: Ares (2025) 👾⚡

Disney’s third spin on the Grid — and once again, it’s less blockbuster and more cult screening fuel.


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Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers, shall we? 🎥

Behind the Grid: Passion or Problem? 🎬

Here’s the thing: Tron: Ares only exists because of Jared Leto. Say what you want about the guy (and there’s a lot to say), but he genuinely loves Tron. He’s been openly pushing Hollywood and Disney for years to get another Tron film off the ground, and he finally willed this thing into existence. And that’s… kind of concerning, right? Because it means the only person in Hollywood banging the drum for Tron is Jared freaking Leto. The one guy everyone else calls box office poison is the franchise’s biggest defender. Oh, goody.

Then there’s director Joachim Rønning, who came in swinging with controversy. He said flat-out that the last two Tron films had “no soul,” and that his film would finally bring soul back to the Grid. Really, dude? You’re going to diss the very movies you’re making a sequel to? Especially when one of them (Legacy) is adored by fans precisely because Daft Punk’s music was its soul? That’s not confidence, that’s just tone-deaf.

And let’s be real about Rønning’s track record: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (aka Pirates 5) and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (aka Maleficent 2). Oh yeah, stellar résumé there, Disney. Nothing screams “give this man Tron” like the guy who made one of the weakest Pirates sequels and a Maleficent follow-up nobody asked for. Why does Disney keep hiring this guy? At this point, it feels like they spin a wheel labeled “Safe, bland sequel director” and his name keeps landing on top.

So when you mix Jared Leto’s passion project energy with a director who starts by insulting the legacy he’s building on… you get Ares. A movie that somehow works in flashes, but leaves you wondering: if this is the team keeping Tron alive, how many more derezzes does the franchise have left in it?

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Non-Spoiler Plot Rundown

Tron: Ares centers on the desperate race to control the mysterious Permanence Code, a program said to allow digital beings to exist permanently in the real world. The new head of Encom, Eve Kim (Greta Lee), sees it as a chance to heal the world — curing disease, ending hunger, bringing real humanitarian change. Her corporate rival, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), sees only military applications. He wants to weaponize the code and sell it to the highest bidder.

To achieve this, Julian creates Ares (Jared Leto), a digital soldier designed to be unstoppable — the so-called “Master Control.”

But Ares’ journey quickly becomes more than combat training. As he’s tested, patched, and paraded for military investors, he begins to develop curiosity, emotion, and even morality. By the time Eve and Julian’s war for the Permanence Code collides, Ares has to decide whether he’s content to be someone’s weapon, or if he can rewrite his own Prime Directive.


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Character Rundown 🎭

Ares (Jared Leto): He begins as Julian’s weapon and ends as something almost human. Leto is controversial in Hollywood — critics call him box office poison — but here, his portrayal actually works.

Eve Kim (Greta Lee): The soul of the movie. She represents the humanitarian side of tech and holds the film together when things get messy.

Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters): Smug, triangle-obsessed, and reckless. He’s more “tech-bro who thinks he’s a genius” than mastermind villain.

Elisabeth Dillinger (Gillian Anderson): Julian’s mother and the one adult in the room. She sees the disaster coming — and pays the price for her son’s arrogance.

Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith): A cold, loyal program who becomes Julian’s replacement Prime Directive when Ares goes rogue. Her lack of nuance makes her both terrifying and tragic.

Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges, as a memory construct): Appears in the retro 80s Grid, dispensing wisdom in a white robe like Tron’s resident digital messiah.

Cameos: Bit returns to say “Yes” and “No,” Flynn’s Arcade resurfaces, and the mid-credits scene resurrects Sark, cementing this as deep-cut fan-service territory.

The Dillinger Family Tree: A Glitched-Out Mess 🌳👾

Okay, so let’s untangle this glowing red mess. In Tron: Ares, we’ve got Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), who’s introduced as the grandson of the original Dillinger — the one who ran Encom in the 1982 film and was basically the guy who unleashed Sark and the MCP. Fine, I follow that.

But then wait a second. Remember Tron: Legacy? Yeah, Cillian Murphy pops up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as Edward Dillinger Jr., clearly meant to be the son of the original Dillinger, a corporate suit waiting to cause trouble in sequels that never happened. So where does that leave Julian? Is he the son of Edward Jr.? If so, why is there no mention of him? Did Disney just quietly erase Cillian Murphy’s character because continuity is hard?

And then there’s Elisabeth Dillinger (played by Gillian Anderson a.k.a. Dana Scully), Julian’s mother in this film. But wait… if Julian is the grandson of the original Dillinger, then technically Elisabeth would be the daughter-in-law of the first Dillinger, right? So does that make her the wife of Edward Jr.? Did the filmmakers even bother to connect those dots, or did they just throw Gillian Anderson in a red-lit room and hope no one asked questions?

The point is: the Dillinger “family tree” feels less like a tree and more like a broken circuit diagram (which I guess is appropriate for this franchise). They want the name for legacy points, but they don’t want to do the homework to keep it straight. Which is on-brand for Disney, I guess.

Soundtrack: From Soul to Static 🎶

Let’s talk music. Tron: Legacy had Daft Punk, and their score wasn’t just good — it was the movie’s soul. Tracks like Derezzed and The Game Has Changed pulsed through every scene, giving the Grid a heartbeat. Even people who didn’t care about Tron still remember that soundtrack. It elevated the film into something iconic.

Now jump to Tron: Ares, where we’ve got Nine Inch Nails (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross). These guys are Oscar winners, masters of moody industrial textures. But here? Their score doesn’t land. It’s competent, sure, but it doesn’t stick with you. It blends into the background instead of defining the film. I walked out of Ares unable to hum a single track.

And that’s the problem. Daft Punk gave Tron its soul. Nine Inch Nails gave Ares a wallpaper of sound. It’s not that they’re bad composers — it’s that Daft Punk raised the bar so impossibly high that anything less than unforgettable was always going to feel like a comedown.



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The Pacing & Flow ⏳

The movie throws a lot at the screen — grids within grids, 3D-printed tanks, nuked servers, and even printed orange trees. But despite its chaos, it moves at a steady clip. It rarely drags, even when logic gaps show. The story is clunky at times, but the spectacle and philosophy keep it from feeling slow.


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Pros ✅

Ares’ character arc from weapon to free will.

Eve Kim’s humanitarian anchor.

Nostalgia callbacks (Bit, yellow Light Cycle, Flynn’s Arcade, Sark).

Thematic weight: permanence vs impermanence, free will vs programming.

Visual style, especially the Recognizer carnage downtown and Ares’ white-lit transformation. Now, granted this whole franchise have been visually appealing, even though the original movie graphics are outdated. It’s still visually appealing.

BTW this is the first Tron film to not have any outdated CGI, so thats a first. Take that as what you will.



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Cons ❌

Julian Dillinger feels cartoonish, more meme than menace.

Athena’s arc is basically Clu reheated.

Logic holes (light walls slice cars but don’t hurt Eve, orange trees from 3D printers).

Nine Inch Nails’ score fades into the background, never reaching Daft Punk’s legendary highs.

Theres not much callbacks to Tron Legacy, which is both a good thing and bad thing if u ask me. Because depends on ur point of view.

This film barely feels like a movie. It feels like a pilot episode to a series, and it’s gonna be a pilot episode. That will never take off the ground. Because i’m sure this franchise is going to be vaulted because it did not do good.

Also this feels like a playground for Jared Leto to play in, mainly because he loves the IP.



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Final Thoughts 💭

This is Disney’s third Tron film, and yes — it’s already circling box office bomb territory. But that’s not surprising. Tron has always been more of a cult obsession than a mainstream juggernaut.

I finally sat down to watch this after missing it several times (one reason I’ll never share because it’s too haunting). And honestly? I really enjoyed it. Jared Leto’s casting was a gamble, the music never hits Legacy’s heights, and the story is messy — but it’s bold, weird, and ambitious. That’s Tron.

Also if ur a fan of the OG Tron film then ur gonna like this film, if ur a fan of Tron Legacy well then u might either hate this film, feel indifferent about this film or feel mixed. Such ass me i am mixed, but I am leaning to more of a positive because I did find myself enjoying the film, but thats just one person’s perspective, dont allow my opinion to cloud y’all thoughts.

🌀 Where Ares Stands in the Franchise

Here’s the thing: I don’t hate Tron: Ares. I don’t even really dislike it. Is it great? No. Phenomenal? Absolutely not. But it’s not the dumpster fire some critics are making it out to be either. Honestly, I think a lot of the hate comes down to Jared Leto — because, well, he’s Jared Leto. He’s become one of Hollywood’s most divisive names. But in all fairness? This might actually be his best role in years. Take that as you will.

If I had to rank the trilogy, Legacy still reigns supreme at number one. That soundtrack, that sleek world design — it’s the crown jewel. Ares? I’d put it second, above the original Tron (1982). It’s messy but enjoyable, and at least I had fun with it.

That being said, will I ever buy this on DVD? Probably not. This is a Disney+ watch for me — something I’ll revisit a couple times down the line when I want neon chaos in the background. The only Tron movie that deserves a permanent DVD spot on my shelf is Legacy. That’s the one that feels worth owning. Now, look, I never been one of those people that say this. This is terrible because it doesn’t have so and so character, for this film and Legacy its there’s no Tron so this is bad, but here’s the thing, so what? The I p might be named Tron, but it ain’t about the character Tron.

Rating: 8/10 🎮⚡


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⚠️ Spoiler Warning ⚠️

From here on, derezzers beware.


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Spoiler Breakdown 🕹️

We open inside a digitized newsreel: an old Kevin Flynn interview about bringing the Grid into the real world; reports of Flynn’s disappearance; Sam Flynn stepping down; and the rise of Eve Kim as Encom’s new CEO after her revolutionary game.

Im glad they didnt retcon Legacy but instead acknowledge it.

Cut to Julian Dillinger, who’s training Ares through brutal combat sims—patching him after every loss—while pitching him to military brass as the ultimate soldier. His branding is hard to miss: triangle spotlight, triangle floor, triangle everywhere. “We’re not going to the Grid,” he crows. “The Grid is coming to us.” He 3D-prints a black tank with red lasers, presents Ares in matching red circuitry,

and Ares even cracks a line about rain—“Hope you brought umbrellas”—moments before we learn the ugly truth: his programs derez in under half an hour. (His timer hits 44 seconds and blink—gone.) Julian’s mother Elisabeth clocks the disaster forming, chiding him for conveniently omitting that his creations can’t survive beyond ~29 minutes; he smugly corrects “twenty-nine,” as if that helps.

Meanwhile, Eve is in Antarctica, working with blue 3D-printers (a clean, refined contrast to Julian’s red). She’s after the Permanence Code not to sell, but to fix things: food, medicine, real world problems. She even prints a living orange tree as a proof-of-concept; it’s bonkers biology, but the point lands—the tree doesn’t derez after 29 minutes. Elsewhere, Julian has spun up his own Dillinger Grid, a militarized red-and-black hellscape where derezzed programs respawn under his control.

Julian hacks Encom during a live tech showcase (complete with a shameless coffee-mug spill shot that mirrors Legacy). He sends Ares, Athena, and a team to steal Eve’s files. Ares deep-scans her life—texts, interviews, motivations (creepy as hell)—and confirms she’s cracked the Permanence Code. Fighting erupts; one of Julian’s guys loses his legs (pulls off the mask: surprise-casting moment), and Julian later nukes Encom’s Grid to cover his tracks—remember that for later.

Julian then prints Ares and Athena into the real world with a 29-minute clock and light cycles. The chase (New York by any other name) turns lethal as their light trails slice a police car in half. Eve splits from her friend per plan; she manages to knock Athena off her bike and steal it, but the pursuit barrels to a dockside standoff. A helicopter arrives; a digitizing laser gun is aimed at Eve. She hurls the external drive into the ocean, bluffing that the code is lost—though the real “copy” is in her head. Ares and Athena time out and derez; Eve is arrested and beamed into the Grid.

Inside the Grid, Eve is issued an identity disc—and the catch: if they strip it, she’s erased in both worlds. Ares is ordered to take it, hesitates, and feels—something Athena literally cannot parse (“Feels? I do not understand”). Julian notices Ares’ burgeoning emotion and vows to scrub it. He quietly orders Athena to eliminate Ares and Eve. Ares rebels, asks Eve if she trusts him, smashes them through glass into a river, spawns a hover jet-ski, and the two escape. Ares cuts a deal: he’ll save her if she helps him get the Permanence Code so he can exist on his own—not for Julian.

They slip through a back-door portal that dumps them into Julian’s printer bay; the system auto-prints them into reality (no human authorization). Julian snarls that this is Ares’ last chance. They bolt to a convenience store, call Eve’s friend to meet at Encom with the big laser, jack the manager’s car (Ares is still on the 29-minute clock), and race to the top-floor lab to set up with seconds remaining.

Cliffhanger gauntlet: As the countdown hits ~40 seconds, Athena hovers outside the glass in a flying craft, waiting for Ares to blink out. Ares nearly rams her—but Eve fires the laser and zaps him into Kevin Flynn’s retro ’80s Grid just in time. In the human world, Athena rams the Encom floor, wrecks the arcade-lined office; sprinklers kick on, and for a strange beat she feels the rain—then times out and derezzes. She auto-respawns via Dillinger’s red printer, spawns a Recognizer and a fleet, and now Elisabeth strides in to shut this whole thing down. Julian protests; she goes for the console—Athena stabs and kills her, icily citing his own “at any cost” directive. Elisabeth’s final breath: “You did this.”

Back in the ’80s Grid, Ares meets Bit (“Yes.” “No.”), rides a yellow Light Cycle with the old janky grid-line motion, and encounters a memory construct of Kevin Flynn in white robes. Flynn uploads the Permanence Code to Ares’ disc—but reframes it: it should really be called the “Impermanence Code.” Nothing truly lasts, not even digital gods. Ares steps into a beam-of-light back door (visual rhyme with Legacy), disc levitating over his head, and exits via Flynn’s Arcade, tying the escape to Tron’s most iconic doorway.

On a side note this can be seen as a retcon, or a nice little nod to the past, i see, it as both because get this. The only reason that the 80s Grid is even here is because Jared Leto just really wanted it to be in this movie. No, really? That’s what it boils down to. This really does feel like Jared Leto’s sandbox.

On the streets, Athena pulverizes the city in a Recognizer, then a tank, easily outclassing the military. She captures Eve—until Ares returns transformed: the red suit replaced by white circuitry, white disc, and a triangle on his chest echoing Flynn’s symbol. He frisbees the disc and disintegrates the tank, freeing Eve. Athena scans him and realizes he’s mortal now—he’s changed the rules. Earlier, Julian had promoted Athena to Prime Directive (triangle disc and all) after Ares went AWOL; now that loyalty calcifies into a final duel.

While Ares and Athena clash, Eve’s team hacks Dillinger’s Grid and fires a “nuke” into it, mirroring Julian’s earlier attack on Encom. Red systems collapse; Athena loses her respawn tether. Ares severs her hand; she falls into his arms, whispering that she followed her Prime Directive. “Yes, you did,” he says. “What’s yours?” she asks. “I don’t know,” he admits. “Guess we’ll find out.” She derezzes for good.

My final thought on Athena? Her character mirrors Clu, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. Just like Clu she follows her orders to a T, which makes her dangerous just like Clu. Both characters are cautionary tales of the the problem aith relying on AI to do ur work.

Cops surround Julian in his warehouse as reports blame him for downtown’s carnage. On a console, letters begin auto-typing: Sark. The Grid powers up. SWAT breaches; Julian steps into the beam and teleports into the Grid, slipping custody. The film’s ending: Eve rejects retirement, doubles down at Encom (even relocating her late sister’s Antarctic lab to the roof), and gets a postcard from Ares—he’s out in the world living, watching, learning; people aren’t ready to know what he is… yet. We see Ares traveling (street clothes, human), pocketing a photo of Sam & Quorra, and firing up the iconic Kevin Flynn motorcycle before riding off—clear sequel bait.

Mid-credits: Julian wakes in his bombed-out red Grid, stunned not that it exists, but that it’s been nuked. A pedestal rises—an old-school ’80s disc, target-ring design, glowing red. He reaches, Sark’s voice rumbles, and the Sark armor fuses over Julian as he screams. Cut to black.

Btw on a side note, people pointed out that it is weird that Julian seems confused when he enters his Grid, as if he didnt know he had one. But here’s the thing hes nor confused because of it, hes confused because he sses his heid been nuked, its like these people overlooked that detail.

The sad part is we may never get a sequel. Because this is not doing good at the box office. And I would have loved to see a sequel where Julian becomes Sark, and we get the return of Sam And Quorra, oh, well, maybe it’s time to put this franchise to a rest.