A new video from Star Wars star Cameron Monaghan makes the case that he is ready to play Cal Kestis in live-action. Since 2019, Monaghan has portrayed the fan-favorite Jedi character in Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars Jedi series of video games. However, while Cal enjoyed a fruitful career in the digital realm, he has yet to appear in live-action (despite multitudinous fan calls for it to happen).
In a new behind-the-scenes glimpse at Tron: Ares, Cameron Monaghan looks primed to make his live-action Star Wars debut. The short video, posted by the Cal Kestis actor on his Instagram, shows an epic battle sequence from the recently released Tron threequel.
In the video, Monaghan wards off several attackers using a pair of staffs. These sticks and his spinning choreography slightly resemble the sort of action one would see a Jedi take part in in the Star Wars universe. This has left fans craving for the actor to bring his Star Wars video game character out of the digital realm in a new star-faring project.
One commenter on Monaghan's original post posed, "This is just your warm-up to be Cal in live action, right?" Another joked, "Cal Kestis is in Tron?" complimenting the actor on his Jedi-esque moves.
In Tron: Ares, Monaghan plays Caius, a soldier programming operating within the Dillinger Grid. However, he spends most of the film with his identity obstructed by a mask, with only one line of dialogue in its entire runtime.
It is unclear whether Monaghan's live-action Star Wars debut will ever happen, but he recently popped up as Cal on Disney+ for the first time, appearing in the brick-based LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy: Pieces of the Past. Monaghan's red-headed Jedi is also set to lead a reported third game in the Star Wars Jedi series, but that title has not yet been officially announced.
Will Cal Kestis Ever Come To Live Action?
If you removed the Data Disks and Grid armor, one could easily be convinced that Cameron Monaghan's new video was him getting trained for an upcoming live-action Star Wars project. Sadly, though, that is not the case.
If anything, this behind-the-scenes Tron footage proves that, if given the chance, Mongahan would knock a live-action Cal out of the park.
Monaghan has spoken about potentially bringing his Star Wars character into live-action many times over the years. In February 2024, the Star Wars Jedi star lamented that if a Cal live-action appearance were to happen, it would have to "mean something" and need to have "a significance for the character itself."
At this point, nothing on the announced Star Wars slate would make for an easy place to throw in a Cal Kestis cameo. Most of the franchise is exploring other parts of the timeline from where Monghan's character existed, making it hard to include him even if the powers that be wanted to.
Also, Cal Kestis' story is not over yet. With a third Star Wars Jedi game still in the works, Lucasfilm will likely hold off on a Cal live-action debut before that third game sees the light of day, just so that Respawn Entertainment can tell the story it wants to without being bound to any other narrative baggage.
