The Big Picture
- Monaghan’s connection to the Tron franchise dates back to his youth, marveling at the original film’s groundbreaking use of CGI.
- Attending the Tron: Legacy premiere at 16 solidified Monaghan’s bond with the series as he embarked on his Disney acting career.
- Monaghan anticipates that Tron: Ares will continue the legacy, pushing boundaries in visual effects and storytelling.
Collider’s Maggie Lovitt caught up with Cameron Monaghan at Calgary Expo, where he shared an intriguing glimpse into his long-standing connection with the Tron franchise, a journey that began long before his casting in the upcoming film Tron: Ares. Directed by Joachim Rønning and starring Jared Leto alongside Monaghan, the film, just like the original four decades ago, promises to push the boundaries of visual effects and storytelling within the iconic digital world.
“I think I first saw the first Tron on a plane when I was younger. It was an international flight. I remember watching the original, and I thought it was from the ’90s or something, because it was pretty amazing how a movie from that era could look that amazing, and utilizing computers the way they did,” Monaghan said. His early exposure to the original Tron left a lasting impression, marveling at its groundbreaking use of computer-generated imagery.
His relationship with the franchise deepened significantly years later: “Then I went to the Tron: Legacy premiere when I was 16 years old, and had just done my first movie for Disney at the time. So, that was really cool getting to go to the El Capitan Theater in LA and seeing that on a big screen.” This experience at the premiere, coupled with his budding career with Disney, tied Monaghan closer to the Tron legacy.
Cameron Monaghan Thinks ‘Tron: Ares’ Will Be Mindblowing
Monaghan also reflected on the enduring appeal and technological advancements of the Tron films: “And that’s a movie that, I think, has now grown a cult fandom, in a similar way that the original Tron did as well, where people thought it was very technologically cool but it’s continued to grow. Tron Legacy, I just saw projected in 35MM at the New Beverly last year, and it really holds up, and has that amazing soundtrack by Daft Punk. So I like that those movies have a number of years of separation between them. They don’t come out very often, and every time they do, they show a new era of technology and filmmaking.”
Looking forward to his own contribution to the series with Tron: Ares, Monaghan expressed his admiration for the film’s creative direction: “I think this one, in a very similar way, is going to really push forward what can be done, from a visual perspective.” He added, “I would sometimes even come in on days I wasn’t working, because that set was really amazing. A lot of the practical sets were pretty phenomenal, and I would love to go look at those as well.”
Tron: Ares debuts exclusively in theaters on October 10, 2025. The original is streaming now on Disney+.
Tron: Ares
- Release Date
- 2025-00-00
- Writers
- Steven Lisberger , Bonnie MacBird , Jack Thorne
