First Trailer for Ray Gunn, Brad Bird’s Sci-Fi Noir 30 Years in the Making

Netflix and Skydance Animation have unveiled the first full trailer for Ray Gunn, a new animated film from Brad Bird, director of The Incredibles, Ratatouille and The Iron Giant.

The film hits Netflix on December 18, 2026. Two weeks earlier, on December 4, it will get a limited theatrical release, with some screenings on 70mm film.

The story unfolds in Metropia, a vast city of an alternate future as imagined in 1939. Humans and aliens live side by side, flying cars travel through the streets and sky, and skyscrapers reach a mile high.

But behind the optimistic retro-futuristic architecture lie murder, corruption and a criminal underworld. Netflix describes the film as a blend of science fiction and classic detective noir.

A Private Detective Gets Drawn into a Case Involving a Mega-Star

The protagonist is Raymond Gunn, an old-fashioned private detective whose work is gradually being replaced by automated “pry bots” in the future. Sam Rockwell voices him.

Together with a one-eyed alien named I-Ra, voiced by Tom Waits, Gunn takes on a case involving one of Metropia’s biggest celebrities, Venus Nova, played by Scarlett Johansson.

Venus finds herself at the center of another scandal, and the investigation leads Ray from the city’s wealthy districts into its far more dangerous underworld.

Bird has long described the concept of Ray Gunn simply as “The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers”. According to the director, he wanted to combine science fiction with the 1940s detective films he loved growing up.

Bird Tried to Make Ray Gunn Before The Iron Giant

The project’s history spans more than three decades. Bird began developing Ray Gunn early in his directing career, before The Iron Giant came out in 1999.

As the director told Animation World Network, he initially wanted to make the film in traditional hand-drawn animation. The project struggled to get off the ground for years until Skydance Animation took it on in 2022.

In the end, the film was made in CG, but Bird worked to preserve the stylized Art Deco aesthetic and the visual language of classic cinema.

Ray Gunn is also not aimed only at children. The story includes murder, corruption, a criminal milieu and other noir elements. At the same time, the director stresses that the film remains a large-scale adventure with humor and action.

Alongside Rockwell, Johansson and Waits, the cast includes Alan Tudyk, Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Rodriguez and Patton Oswalt. The score was written by Bird’s frequent collaborator Michael Giacchino.

Ray Gunn will have its world premiere at the BFI film festival in London, then go into limited release on December 4, and become available on Netflix on December 18.