Tron: Ares Villain Has Unexpected Connection to 1982 Movie

Tron: Ares star Evan Peters shared a surprising connection his character has to the original movie.

What is Tron: Ares villain’s unexpected connection to the original?

In Tron: Ares, Peters plays Julian Dillinger, the CEO of Dillinger Systems. Fans of the franchise will recognize that Julian shares the same last name as Ed Dillinger, the villainous executive from the original Tron. Julian is Ed’s grandson, while Elisabeth Dillinger, played by Gillian Anderson, is Ed’s daughter and Julian’s mother.

Peters explained how Julian will carry on the legacy of the Dillingers as he attempts to use AI for military efforts.

“[In the] second film, the Dillingers are unveiling NCom12, and now Julian is unveiling this military AI, Ares,” Peters said to GamesRadar+. “So it sort of kicks off the movie. But like you said, it was in the writing, and then our characters’ relationship and dynamic – that was pretty fresh and new to the series. I was excited to jump on board with that.”

Jared Leto stars as Ares, Dillinger’s creation. Ares is an intelligent and highly sophisticated AI created in the digital realm to be a super soldier in the real world. Ares is ordered to hunt Eve Kim (Greta Lee), the CEO of ENCOM, who has found the permanence code. With the permanence code, digital objects can become real, so Eve plans to use it to improve humanity by creating food and medicine. Julian needs the code for his takeover and will stop at nothing to retrieve it.

Tron: Ares also stars Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, and Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, the former CEO of ENCOM and protagonist in the 1982 film.

Joachim Rønning directs Tron: Ares from a screenplay by Jesse Wigutow. Producers include Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, Jared Leto, Emma Ludbrook, and Steven Lisberger. Tron: Ares is the third movie in the franchise, behind 1982’s Tron and 2010’s Tron: Legacy.

Tron: Ares opens in theaters on October 10, 2025.

 Originally reported by Dan Girolamo on SuperHeroHype.

Source: Comingsoon.net