Jeff Bridges confirms his return to the ‘Tron’ franchise in the upcoming instalment starring Jared Leto.
The digitized and dangerous world of Tron might be finally seeing a legacy character return through Jeff Bridges, who recently confirmed that he will be returning in the franchise’s upcoming instalment, Tron: Ares, 14 years after his last appearance in Tron: Legacy.
In a session with the Film Comment podcast (via The Playlist), the star of The Big Lebowski and Fearless mentioned that he will play a part in the upcoming film, though it remains unknown whether he’ll be portraying Kevin Flynn again.
Furthermore, this reveal was further confirmed on Walt Disney Studios’ social media accounts, which sees Bridges getting and reading the script for Tron: Ares.
“I’m heading off this Saturday to play a part in the third installment of the Tron story; I’m excited about that,” Bridges said. “It’s wild. Jared Leto is the star of this third one, and I’m really anxious to work with him, and I’ve admired his work.”
While Bridges is excited to return for Tron: Ares, he also reflected on the de-aging techniques used for Tron: Legacy, which seemed to make him look more like Bill Maher. “I think it was [de-aging], but I didn’t like the way I looked in it; I felt like I looked more like Bill Maher than myself; it was kind of bizarre,” he said.
Given that the film will set itself apart from the previous Tron films, it’s likely that Bridges might play a smaller role that may have larger implications in the future of the series. Flynn’s family and the events of Legacy could potentially be referenced, but how Tron: Ares does so will remain to be seen.
The film will more so be focused on Jared Leto’s Ares, a Program who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings.
The main cast includes Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, with Gillian Anderson. In addition, Justin Springer, Jeffrey Silver and Emma Ludbrook will produce Tron: Ares.
