It Turns Out Nine Inch Nails Has An Actual Cameo In Tron: Ares

If I were to tell you there were at least four Academy Award winners in the Tron: Ares cast, you’d probably go mad trying to figure out the third and fourth names after quickly naming Jared Leto and Jeff Bridges. It’s not Greta Lee or Jodie Turner-Smith, though both had Oscar-worthy performances in the past. And it’s not Evan Peters or Gillian Anderson. Instead, it’s Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the core members of Nine Inch Nails, who have a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in the 2025 movie.

Reznor and Ross, who won Oscars for their work on The Social Network and Soul, provided the synth-heavy score for Tron: Ares, creating one of the best things about the movie. However, I had no idea that one of the most influential American rock bands of all time appeared in the movie until well into the end credits.

So, where are they exactly?

Trent Reznor And Atticus Ross Play Fighter Pilots In The Tron: Ares Climax

Nine Inch Nails’ members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross didn’t just make one of the best movie scores in the past couple of years with their work on Tron: Ares (the first score the duo has released under the NIN moniker). They also played the two F-35 pilots who attempted to bring down Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) in her climactic assault on the real world with her Recognizer to find Ares (Jared Leto) and Eve Kim (Greta Lee) and steal the permanence code.

You never really see their faces, as they’re obscured by helmets and oxygen masks before their jets come crashing down after hitting the light drones midair, but that’s them, as revealed in the closing credits.

Don’t Worry, You’re Not The Only One Who Missed It

I could lie to you all and act like I knew it was them all along, but I honestly didn’t pick up on it until a colleague pointed out Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ names among the cast. And judging by how much this has come up in conversation in the days since first seeing Tron: Ares, I’m not alone, and neither are you.

If you do want to go back to see NIN flying fighter jets (and possibly boost the movie’s lackluster box office performance), they appear in the middle of the final assault near the end of the movie.

How Does It Compare To Daft Punk’s Cameo In Tron: Legacy?

Nine Inch Nails isn’t the first band to have a cameo in the Tron franchise, as Daft Punk, who created the killer soundtrack for 2010’s Legacy, also had an all-timer cameo a decade-and-a-half ago. And while I really love Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ brief appearance in Ares, it’s just not on the same level as Daft Punk, who broke up in 2021, showing up in the incredible Legacy club fight sequence. Not only do you see more of the French electronic duo in that scene, but that sequence is just so freaking cool.

Though Tron: Ares isn’t receiving the best of reviews (we gave it a 2.5 out of 5), Nine Inch Nails’ head-bopping and foot-tapping score is something everyone should check out. Even if they don’t want to go back and look for their cameo.