Posted in: Disney, Movies | Tagged: disney, tron, Tron: Ares

Tron Creator Reflects on the Original Story and the Evolution of AI

Tron’s creator calls AI’s flaws a blessing and urges artists to push the tech, as Tron: Ares arrives in theaters this weekend.

Tron has consistently been a step ahead of the pop culture conversation surrounding AI, identity, and the boundary between physical life and the digital unknown. The 1982 original imagined "programs" with agency long before chatbots and generative tools entered everyday language. Then, Tron: Legacy in 2010 scaled up the idea with a networked world that felt sleek, addictive, and morally slippery, loosely depicting how design and code shape behavior. Now, as Tron: Ares readies its highly anticipated return, the franchise's core questions still land. And during a conversation with /Film, Tron creator Steven Lisberger specifically addressed how his viewpoint has evolved.

Tron Creator Says AI Making Mistakes is "Charming"

Lisberger tells the outlet, "We were very naive back then and so optimistic, but it felt different. It was a wonderful opportunity, and the tools were so amazing. [Now] I hear people are shocked that AI is hallucinating and making mistakes. That's a blessing. It's quite charming. I will be much more scared if someone tells me AI never makes mistakes. That's when the real problem starts. I like to say that it's imperative that we, as an artistic community, kick this technology around before it kicks us around. I'm weary of hearing all the dreary and apocalyptic predictions of the future of technology."

Disney's official synopsis frames Tron: Ares as a highly sophisticated program sent from the digital world into ours on a dangerous mission, marking humanity's first true encounter with AI beings. That premise extends Tron's long-running curiosity about what "real" means once code crosses the threshold. It also sets the stage for even more corporate and philosophical friction, keeping a few more classic overarching Tron themes embedded into the story.

The film's cast reflects a mix of legacy and new blood. Jared Leto leads as Ares, with Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, and Gillian Anderson among the ensemble. Most significantly for longtime fans, Jeff Bridges returns as Kevin Flynn, contributing to the connective tissue between the original films and this next chapter. Tron: Ares is directed by Joachim Rønning and arrives in theaters on October 10, 2025, including premium formats like IMAX and Dolby Cinema.

Whether you come for the slick worldbuilding or the series' persistent curiosity about AI's promise and peril, Tron: Ares is looking to push Tron's established ideas into the center of today's conversation about tech, creativity, and control.

Are you excited to see what Tron: Ares brings to the franchise?

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