TRON: ARES: First Look at Jodie Turner-Smith as "Totally Uncompromising" Athena and Details

In our first proper look at Jodie Turner-Smith in Tron: Ares, and she steps into the digital arena as Athena, a character who looks like she could tear through the Grid and not blink twice doing it.

Decked out in a light-up suit, sporting bleach-blonde hair and a deliberately eyebrow-free stare, Turner-Smith is bringing raw power and a zero-compromise attitude to her role as second-in-command to Jared Leto’s Ares.

Smith told Empire: “She is hardcore and fierce and strong and loyal. It’s really fun to play somebody who’s just totally uncompromising and brazenly going about accomplishing their objectives. And I was really willing to take that on right now. I was like, ‘Ooh, villain era, let’s go.’”

Athena is a loyal enforcer and a force of will. Turner-Smith brought her own rebellious flair to the role. When the production team asked her to go blonde for the part, she didn’t stop there. She bleached her eyebrows… and then just shaved them off entirely.

“Joachim actually was not down for that idea,” she laughed. “They wanted me to go blonde, so I did, and I also bleached my eyebrows. And then I thought, ‘You know what? It’s gonna look better if the eyebrows are gone.

“If anyone’s upset, I’ll just tell them the bleach made them fall out.’ It was one of those times of asking for forgiveness rather than permission.”

Athena seems like a character that you won’t want to mess with.

The movie is being helmed by Joachim Rønning and it also stars Cameron Monaghan (Star Wars Jedi), Evan Peters (WandaVision), Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith (Without Remorse), Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, and Gillian Anderson. Jeff Bridges is also returning to the world of Tron.

The film arrives in theaters on October 10, 2025.