Ray Gunn Trailer Brings Brad Bird To Netflix With An Animated Sci-fi Noir

"The Iron Giant." "The Incredibles." "Ratatouille." Brad Bird has made some of the best animated movies of all time. (He also directed Disney's live-action flop "Tomorrowland," but let's just forget about that for now.) In short, he knows what he's doing, so when we have a new animated Brad Bird movie on the horizon, that's something to take note of.

Bird is bringing his talents to Netflix (with help from Skydance Animation) for "Ray Gunn," an animated sci-fi noir film that he's been trying to get made for a long time now. The "Ray Gunn" trailer is here, and you can watch it above. The movie embraces a retro futurism vibe — in other words, it presents a vision of the future that looks like it was cooked up by people still living in the past. "It was always meant to be a blend of sci-fi and classic detective movies from the '40s," Bird said of the project (via Tudum). "The elevator pitch I came up with is 'The Maltese Falcon' meets 'Buck Rogers.'"

Sam Rockwell voices the title character, a private eye who gets mixed up in a case involving a celebrity, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

Netflix

I'll admit that I'm not 100% sold on the character designs here, but Brad Bird is one of those filmmakers who understands that movement is essential to animation, so I have no doubt he'll bring his particular skills to this project. And hey, best of all: Tom Waits is here, lending his distinct voice to an alien character who seems to be Ray Gunn's partner. Casting Tom Waits as an alien is just a smart move.

The official synopsis says "Ray Gunn" is set in "Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939." There, "private eye Raymond Gunn (Sam Rockwell) is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder, and a multimedia star named Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson)."

In addition to Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Waits, the "Ray Gunn" voice cast includes Alan Tudyk, Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Chernus, Kether Donohue, Michelle Rodriguez, Aasif Mandvi, Matt Jones, Kathryn Hunter, John Ratzenberger, Justin Peck, and Patton Oswalt.

"Ray Gunn" will open in select theaters and limited 70mm on December 4, 2026, before heading to Netflix on December 18, 2026.