'Tron: Ares' director addresses Cillian Murphy, Garrett Hedlund's absence

Joachim Rønning, the director of Tron: Ares, has revealed why Cillian Murphy and Garrett Hedlund will not be returning for cameos in the upcoming movie.

The 53-year-old Norwegian film director conversed with SFX magazine ahead of Tron: Ares' release, which is going to be the first movie in the science-fiction series in 15 years.

Rønning said the movie will not have surprise old cast cameos and Jeff Bridges is the only actor coming back as Kevin Flynn, while Murphy’s Dillinger Jr. and Hedlund’s Sam Flynn are not returning.

Giving the reasons behind their decision of not including both actors in the forthcoming movie, the director of Pirates of the Caribbean 5 stated, "These things are not only creative choices; sometimes actors don't want to be in it anymore.”

He added, "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.”

The producer Justin Springer also articulated his thoughts on the soon-to-be-released movie by quipping, "We're telling a story that's 14 years later, and the most important thing is that we tell this new story in a way that works.”

"To just throw cameos in, where it's a parade of people that we love from this franchise, I just feel like it's fan service that doesn't serve the story. But we are definitely focused on ways to surprise the audience.”

"If we don't touch something in this movie, I always think about where else we can play. I produced the animated series [Tron: Uprising] and I worked on the theme park rides. There are all sorts of different ways to keep the mythology alive, whether that be in a film or a series or whatever, if we're so lucky,” Springer explained.

Jared is playing Ares in the movie, which is a superintelligent artificial intelligence program that comes from the digital world to the real one.

It is pertinent to mention that Tron: Ares will hit theatres on October 10, 2025 under the banner of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.