In a world where digital frontiers and human identity collide, Tron: Ares ushers in the next phase of Disney’s legacy sci-fi franchise and marks the long-awaited return to the Grid since 2010’s Tron: Legacy.
The complex themes of humanity in the face of a digital unknown have always been key to the franchise, but here, the roles have been reversed, as the Grid comes to the real world this time around, and at the centre of it all lies fresh faces, including franchise newcomer Greta Lee, who plays Eve Kim, the new CEO of ENCOM, the in-universe software and technology company intrinsically linked with The Grid.
While Lee is no stranger to emotionally complex roles, known for her range across independent and art films like the 2023 romance drama Past Lives and the 2019 comedy series Russian Dolls, Tron: Ares marks a bold new chapter for the Los Angeles native as the special-effects blockbuster places her in the realm of green screens and practical sets.
“So much of filming Tron: Ares was so surprising on a technical level,” the 42-year-old recalls during an exclusive interview with Geek Culture, “I’ve never worked on something that had these practical sets that were unimaginable, but they were so huge, they were massive.”
“Each grid was basically its own sort of playground that we as actors got to play in.” she explains, “We’ve got to do so many of our own stunts, which was amazing and also challenging, like wearing a light suit,” although she admits that she didn’t spend as much time in said suits compared to her other co-stars, including leading man Jared Leto (Suicide Squad, Morbius), who plays Ares, a “Master Control” security software for ENCOM’s competitor Dilliger Systems.
Playing Eve, Are’s closest companion in the real world, Lee spent an extended period of time working alongside Leto for the film, and thus had some thoughts on the star’s well-known penchant for extreme method acting, such as when he walked with crutches and used a wheelchair to get around on the set of Morbius (2022) to remain in character.
“I know Ares.” Lee remarks when asked if she managed to see the “real” Leto during filming. “From day one, he was Ares, and on the last day, he was Ares.”
“I think everyone has a different process, and I’m always curious about other people’s processes, because they are so unique. He was method, through and through, and I have a lot of respect for someone who’s gonna be method robot in that for that length of time.”
With this in mind, the move from grounded dramas to a sci-fi extravaganza might seem like a tough hurdle, but for Lee, it was much smoother than expected, considering how beneath all of Tron: Ares’ techno stylings lay a surprisingly human foundation.
“Part of the joy of what I do is I’m a little bit genre agnostic, meaning I really like to bounce around.” explains lee, “I think arguably, with Tron, what we’ve done is it’s sci fi, it’s action, but at the heart of it, at the core, it’s a very human story that I think a lot of people can relate to.”
Another aspect of Tron: Ares that audiences, including Lee, can relate to is the underlying theme surrounding the relationship between what’s real and artificial. The world today has become much closer to that presented in the fiction of the Tron universe, with the proliferation of technological advancements that are part and parcel of our daily lives, to be used and potentially abused.
As much as rising technology like artificial intelligence (AI) can aid in everyday life, it also brings about a level of uncertainty in the face of a new digital environment.
“Like anyone else, the past few years have been full of these tremendous technological advances,” she describes, “AI is something that is inescapable, we went from it feeling like that was this conceptual, abstract idea, to now [where] it’s fully baked into every moment of our lives.”
“But I do love that with this movie, we are asking the question, how to make these advances human-centric, and in the best case scenario, we can be hopeful that these advances can be for the [greater] good, as opposed to something that is having a negative sort of impact on our lives.”
Of course, it wasn’t just the film’s pertinent themes that drew Lee to the project, as Tron: Ares represented a welcome challenge for her, one that could sufficiently flex her acting chops.
“As an actor, I’m always looking for the thing that feels like I’m gonna have to stretch and I’m gonna have to grow,” Lee recalls, “I’ve never been a part of anything even remotely close to something like this in terms of how massive the [Tron] franchise is.”
“It was a lot of pressure, but I welcomed the challenge of how to pay homage to Tron and to the die-hard fans, while also taking advantage of this new opportunity to usher in a whole new, different audience to Tron.”
“I’m still sort of pinching myself,” Lee admits, “I can’t believe that I’m here, that I am a part of this and that I get to share this character with everyone within this world. It’s really special to me.”
Tron: Ares brings the Grid to theatres when it launches on 9 October 2025.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
