Jeff Bridges is returning for Tron: Ares even though he wasn't a fan of his de-aged character in Tron: Legacy — a movie that hit theaters nearly 15 years ago.
The 74-year-old actor revealed on an episode of The Film Comment podcast that he is going back to the grid for Tron: Ares, the third movie in Disney's long-running sci-fi franchise that began with Tron in 1982 and returned with Tron: Legacy in 2010. Bridges appeared in both movies, plus the short film Tron: The Next Day in 2011.
"I'm heading off this Saturday to play a part in the third installment of the Tron story," Bridges said. "Jared Leto is the star of this third one. I'm really anxious to work with him. I've admired his work."
Bridges is best known for portraying talented computer engineer Kevin Flynn in the film franchise, though he also appeared in a secondary role in the sequel. The actor was digitally de-aged using CGI to play a character named Clu (Codified Likeness Utility), but he admits that he didn't like how his de-aging looked in the movie.
"I didn't like the way I looked in it," Bridges said. "I felt like I looked more like Bill Maher than myself. It was kind of bizarre."
He added that he was "anxious" to see the technology utilised in the upcoming Tron: Ares, but he has heard "there's even less AI stuff" and "it's going to be a more practical set." Bridges has already had the opportunity to see some of the sets where the action will unfold, and he says they're "beautiful" constructions.
It is not clear what role Bridges will play in the third Tron movie, which entered production in January and is slated for release in October 2025, especially since his original character seemed to sacrifice himself in the virtual world to save his son (Garrett Hedlund) and Quorra (Garrett Hedlund) at the end of the previous film.
Some of the characters will don striking new red light suits for Tron: Ares, which, according to the synopsis for the movie, will tell the story of "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 AI beings."
Bridges stars in the sci-fi threequel alongside Jared Leto in the titular role, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, and Gillian Anderson.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter @AdeleAnkers.
