Nine Inch Nails’ Soundtrack Sets the Tone for TRON: Ares

Disney recently dropped a new trailer for TRON: Ares, a new installment in the TRON film series, ahead of its big showcase at San Diego Comic-Con, which will begin next week. TRON: Ares is helmed by Joachim Rønning and comes after a new beginning for the franchise that transitions its science fiction world to the real one.

In 2010’s TRON: Legacy, audiences last saw the Grid with Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the son of TRON’s original hero Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges). Sam had recently thwarted the Grid’s villainous program Clu from merging the digital universe with the real world in a surprise finale. He and his new ally, Quorra (Olivia Wilde), also escaped the Grid. Quorra, who has been Clu’s target for deletion, is a rare isomorphic algorithm (ISO) with the unique ability to move through the digital world at incredible speed.

When a third TRON movie was in development, it was supposed to have picked up directly where Legacy left off. Disney gave the go-ahead in October 2010 for a follow-up that was expected to center on Sam and Quorra as Sam stepped into his father’s role as leader of ENCOM. Yet, the sequel struggled to find traction. In 2015, the film was officially canceled, with reported interest from Disney plummeting after a poor showing for sci-fi movie Tomorrowland.

TRON: Ares was not the end for the sci-fi franchise. In 2020, Disney revived the series with a reboot that exists on its own and is not part of Legacy’s continuity. Elements of the early sequel did make it into production, however, such as the character of Ares, a previous AI in earlier versions of the script. After a series of production challenges and stoppages resulting from the pandemic and Hollywood’s recent workers’ strikes, the final edit of TRON: Ares is now finished, and the film will arrive in theaters in the fall.

In the official Disney synopsis, the production is described as, “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 as Ares, with Evan Peters and Greta Lee co-starring as Julian Dillinger and Eve Kim. The supporting cast includes Jodie Turner-Smith, Cameron Monaghan, Sarah Desjardins, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, and Gillian Anderson. Jeff Bridges is also part of the cast, reprising his role as Kevin Flynn. Industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails will also return to score the new installment.

New Trailer Offers Deeper Insight Into Mission and Objectives

The initial trailer, released in April, was as eye-catching as a TRON movie would be expected to be, especially in a scene featuring a rapid montage of iconic TRON imagery (light cycles and the neon Grid patterns) before the audience is treated to the film’s establishing shot in the real world. However, much of the plot of the film remained a mystery. The new trailer is just as visually striking while filling in more of the details of the story.

After a first minute that appears to take place in front of a large audience, much like a keynote presentation for a tech company, the story’s central villain, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), ominously states that, “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 his “ultimate soldier.” “He’s biblically strong, lightning fast, and supremely intelligent. And if he is struck down on the battlefield…” Dillinger gestures to his creation, an A.I. named Ares (Jared Leto), as he falls to the floor mid-speech, “…I will simply make you another.” Dillinger comes across as smug and self-important in his vision of himself as controlling the A.I. narrative of the future.

The trailer seems to indicate that Dillinger might be wrong about that. As Ares himself embarks on his secret mission, the movie sets up its more philosophical question. The character of Ares, the first A.I. to be present in the real world, sets out in search of something, not quite even able to define the specifics of his search. Kevin Flynn’s hologrammatic presence in the film’s digital world even addresses the question, asking, “A malfunctioning program who wants to live, why is that?”

Jared Leto stars as the “first A.I. to come to Earth.” Leto is seen as he steps into the real world in a new trailer for the action-adventure. TRON: Ares Courtesy Disney / Marvel Studios / Bounty Movie Poster/Marvel Studios 2023

The return of Jeff Bridges in the TRON universe is one obvious nostalgic angle that the film can use to entice audiences, but Leto as an A.I. in the human world also could present a new angle on the franchise’s long exploration of man vs. machine conflict.

TRON: Ares marks Rønning’s big return to the director’s chair, after his previous feature, Skjelvet, was released over five years ago. The previous trailer demonstrated that the series’ trademark visual style is intact, and this new trailer, with real-world locations fused with light-beam digital precision, suggests it will be as well. Nine Inch Nails also returns as the franchise’s composers, so the audience can expect a chilling synth sound.