After more than a decade of CTRL+ALT+DEL, Tron is finally powering back up with Tron: Ares. Directed by Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), the latest outing stars Jared Leto as a powerful AI program who makes the leap into the real world, in a cast that includes Greta Lee (Past Lives), Evan Peters (X-Men), Jodie Turner-Smith (The Acolyte), Hasan Minhaj (It Ends with Us), Arturo Castro (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) and Gillian Anderson (Sex Education). And while Jeff Bridges is returning as Kevin Flynn, fans hoping to see other familiar faces from Tron: Legacy will be disappointed.

Speaking with Collider’s Maggie Lovitt at FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Garrett Hedlund, who played Sam Flynn in the first sequel, finally broke his silence on the matter. The actor was quick to express nothing but support for the project and those involved:

“Well, first, I can’t wait to watch what they did with this, what they did with Ares. I’m so proud of everybody involved. The producers on that are the same producers that brought Legacy to life, and they just worked their tail off on this one. And so, I’m going to be the first one in the door to go see [the movie], and the fans are very excited about it as well, and that’s a wonderful thing. There’s a lot of love for [Tron] out there.”

Hedlund didn’t directly address whether he had turned down an offer to reprise Sam Flynn, but his comments reflect genuine enthusiasm rather than any sense of bitterness. For fans of the Tron universe, his words will likely soften the sting of not seeing Sam back in the Grid.

Why Isn’t Garrett Hedlund Returning for ‘Tron: Ares’?

Rønning recently confirmed that Ares won’t bring back Hedlund’s Sam Flynn or Cillian Murphy’s Dillinger Jr., citing a mix of creative choices and actors declining to return. Producer Justin Springer added that the new film isn’t chasing nostalgia cameos, insisting the story had to stand on its own. Rønning’s full comments can be found below:

“These things are not only creative choices; sometimes actors don’t want to be in it anymore. There are different ways of looking at that, but I think the story fell into a place where we felt that we didn’t need the old characters to be front and centre. We wanted to take this into a new direction while, at the same time, honoring the universe that we’re in.”

Tron: Ares hits theaters on October 10, 2025. Stay tuned at Collider for more.

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Release Date

October 10, 2025

Writers

Jack Thorne, Jesse Wigutow, David DiGilio

Franchise(s)

Tron