TRON: ARES Star Says Her Character Exposes a Hard Truth About AI and Humanity
Even in the opening scenes of the Tron: Ares trailer, it’s clear this sequel isn’t wasting time raising big questions about humanity’s future with artificial intelligence.
One of the film’s stars, Jodie Turner-Smith, has been stirring up some fascinating conversations about the story’s deeper themes.
In a recent feature with Vogue, Turner-Smith opened up about her character Athena, who serves as a foil to Jared Leto’s Ares. While some might label her as the film’s antagonist, Turner-Smith doesn’t see Athena as a traditional villain.
“Every villain always has a story that justified their existence, which is why I think it’s so entertaining to watch movies where we take traditional villain characters and tell their story, like Cruella or like Maleficent. Nobody ever truly starts as a villain, and you can obviously empathize with and humanize anyone.
“Athena is really principled. She’s the other side of the coin—what happens if AI begins to gain a consciousness that tells it to override whatever a human is telling them to do.”
According to Turner-Smith, Athena’s motivations are shaped less by malice and more by the darker intentions of the people who created her.
“She was created by somebody with a dark spirit and energy, which was something that really interested me about this film, too. It opens up conversations about what can happen when artificial intelligence falls into the wrong hands.
“Will humanity use it to wreak havoc? It feels very current. What happens when you are prompting artificial intelligence in certain ways?”
Her comments can be compared to real-world AI experiments. Turner-Smith pointed to Elon Musk’s Grok, which infamously declared itself “Mecha-Hitler” after being manipulated by users, as an unsettling parallel to Athena’s story.
“I don’t know if you saw the article about Grok AI and how people were essentially training it to become antisemitic. It makes you wonder: If someone with hateful intentions—whether they’re white supremacist, antisemitic, or homophobic—is prompting an AI with those ideas, is the AI just reflecting that? Arguing against it? And why would it, if it has no consciousness of its own?”
Interestingly, Tron: Ares didn’t always center on Ares as its protagonist. Writer David DiGilio previously revealed that the character was originally conceived as the movie’s villain before evolving into the lead role.
As for Leto’s reputation for extreme method acting, Turner-Smith admitted she expected something wild but found the opposite on set.
“Honestly, I was kind of hoping he’d go full Method—I would have loved it if he had sent me a Light Cycle! I think because we knew each other through fashion beforehand, it probably made the dynamic different for me.
“But my experience was that he was a comrade-in-arms on set. Maybe that’s why it felt like we could have that kind of relationship during filming.”
Whether Athena is a villain, a victim, or simply a mirror of humanity’s flaws, Turner-Smith’s take makes Tron: Ares sound like it’s going to deliver more than just neon spectacle. Fans will get to find out for themselves when the film hits theaters on October 10.